Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42209487›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Revealing ultrafast proton-transfer-mediated autoionization as a source of low-energy electrons in hydrogen-bonded systems.

Wael Iskandar, Yi-Siang Wang, Victor A Suarez, Matthew C Rohan, Kirk A Larsen, James Zhong Manis, Travis Severt, Joshua B Williams, Itzik Ben-Itzhak, Thomas M Orlando and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Wael Iskandar *Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Yi-Siang Wang *School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Victor A SuarezSchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Matthew C RohanSchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Kirk A LarsenChemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.
James Zhong ManisChemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0186-2468
Travis SevertJ. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.
Joshua B WilliamsDepartment of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6599-4753
Itzik Ben-ItzhakJ. R. Macdonald Laboratory, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6214-3520
Thomas M OrlandoSchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2422-4506
Joshua S KretchmerSchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. jkretchmer@gatech.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3468-0481
Daniel S SlaughterChemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. DSSlaughter@lbl.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4621-4552
Thorsten WeberChemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA. TWeber@lbl.gov.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3756-2704

Funding

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DE00000991SUS/GR10002881U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DE-AC02-05CH11231U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DE-FG02-02ER15337U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) DE-FG02-86ER13491
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ionizing radiation can trigger ultrafast proton transfer, a central mechanism in many chemical and biological functions, that in turn can enable or suppress electron relaxation processes and consequently cause abrupt changes in the reaction pathway. This study combines theory and experiment to probe ultrafast relaxation and dissociation in water dimers following inner- and outer-valence photoionization. By tracking electron and nuclear motion simultaneously, we reveal competing fragmentation pathways that produce low-energy electrons, which are key agents in radiation-induced chemistry, including DNA damage. While low-energy electrons are known to arise via intermolecular Coulombic decay, here we identify a faster relaxation mechanism gated by proton transfer following inner-valence ionization, which we call proton-transfer-mediated autoionization. Occurring within 10 femtoseconds, this process alters fragmentation outcomes, yielding either D

Identifiers

PMID42209487
PMCPMC13389466

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.