Synchrotron radiation at the service of radical chemistry

Chemistry in extreme environments, such as pyrolysis, combustion and astrochemical processes, are primarily driven by radicals. However, due to their high reactivity, the direct observation of these important species in reactive chemical systems requires the use of advanced spectroscopic tools of great sensitivity and selectivity.
In my talk, I will show how using tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation from synchrotron sources, coupled to a photoelectron-photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectrometer, we are capable of detecting and characterizing previously unobserved radicals involved in even some of the simplest reactions, such as the pyrolysis of ethane and the ring opening of cyclopropyl. Combined with high accuracy ab initio quantum chemistry, our results shed light on fundamental phenomena, from radical chain reactions which are crucial for the understanding of molecular growth in extreme environments, to pericyclic reactions of importance both to fundamental physical-organic chemistry and kinetic modelling of radical chemistry.