Attochemistry of Ionized Halogen, Chalcogen, Pnicogen, and Tetrel Noncovalent Bonded Clusters

In general, charge migration can occur via pure electron–electron correlation and relaxation or via coupling with nuclear motion. We must understand both aspects of charge migration through the non-hydrogen noncovalent bonds to harness full potential of the halogen-, chalcogen-, pnicogen- and tetrel-bonded photosensitive functional materials. This feature article, however, is focused on the pure relaxation- and correlation-driven charge migration, subsequent charge localization, and finally on charge-directed reactivity in the non-hydrogen noncovalent bonded clusters. Pure relaxation- and correlation-driven charge migration can occur on a several hundred attosecond (as) time scale, and this is why chemical dynamics associated with this pure electronic charge migration can be named “attochemistry”. One of the efficient ways to elucidate the attochemistry is via the vertical ionization by monitoring a nonstationary electronic charge density that evolves in time while the nuclear configuration remains unchan...