Photofragmentation of coronene cations

Recent laboratory studies have shown that PAH cations dehydrogenate to give charged molecules consisting of only carbon atoms. Our experiments using ion-trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry show that a key group of photodissociation fragments from the coronene cation $({{{C}}_{24}}{{H}}_{12}^ + )$ are carbon clusters of ${{C}}_n^ +$ composition. Density functional theory calculations shed light onto potential dissociation pathways leading up to the main ${{C}}_{11}^ +$ and ${{C}}_{12}^ +$ clusters, and highlight the importance of pentagon formations in the carbon backbone of the precursor molecule in generating certain fragments.