Roaming in highly excited states: The central atom elimination of triatomic molecule decomposition. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38359138/)

These scientists were studying how molecules break apart when they are hit by light. Usually, when molecules break apart, they follow a specific path of least energy. But sometimes, they can take a different path, called roaming, which is not the usual way. The scientists found that when a molecule called SO(2) breaks apart when hit by light, it can produce excited fragments called S((1)D) and O(2)(a(1)Delta(g)). They discovered that there are two ways this molecule can break apart - one way makes the oxygen molecule colder, and the other way makes it hotter. The scientists think that this roaming way of breaking apart might happen more often than they thought.

Li Z., Fu YL., Luo Z., Yang S., Wu Y., Wu H., Wu G., Zhang W., Fu B., Yuan K., Zhang D., Yang X. Roaming in highly excited states: The central atom elimination of triatomic molecule decomposition. Science. 2024 Feb 16;383(6684):746-750. doi: 10.1126/science.adn3357. Epub 2024 Feb 15.