Nature Communications (Mar 2018)
Ultraslow isomerization in photoexcited gas-phase carbon cluster $${{\rm C}}_{10}^ -$$ C10-
Abstract
Isomerization is a basic process in nature, with implications for chemical reactivity including in space. Here, the authors observe ultraslow isomerization in an isolated gas-phase carbon chain to its cyclic isomer lasting up to hundreds of microseconds, which may impact the creation of larger carbons in the interstellar medium.