Anisotropic Coulomb Explosion of CO Ligands in Group 6 Metal Hexacarbonyls: Cr(CO)6, Mo(CO)6, W(CO)6.

Multiple ionization and subsequent Coulomb explosion have been studied for many organic molecules and their clusters; however, the metal complexes, particularly the large Coulombic interactions expected between a metal and its ligands, have not yet been explored. In this study, the angular distribution of CO(+), oxygen, and carbon ions ejected from metal hexacarbonyls (M(CO)6, M: Cr, Mo, W) having Oh symmetry by Coulomb explosion in femtosecond laser fields (>1 × 10(14) W cm(-2)) is investigated. The emissions of oxygen ions are well-explained in terms of the geometric alignment along a line inclined 45° relative to the CO-M-CO axis in a M(CO)4 plane. Unlike the explosion behavior of the oxygen ions located on the outer part of the molecule, the explosion behavior of the carbon ions was affected by the laser intensity, kinetic energy, and metal. This finding that the emission trends of carbon sandwiched between oxygen and metal atoms were the opposite of those for oxygen was explained by the obstruction by oxygen, the deformation of structure in bending coordinates, and the strong interaction with charged metal. The anisotropic Coulomb explosion of metal complexes reflecting their structural symmetry and central metal charge is a promising candidate for use in the investigation of large Coulombic interactions at the molecular level.