Photo-fragmentation behavior of methyl- and methoxy-substituted derivatives of hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) cations

It is concluded that the photo-dissociation mechanism of the substituted PAH cations studied here is site selective in the substituted subunit. This work also shows experimental evidence that photo-fragmentation of substituted PAHs may contribute to the formation in space of smaller species that are normally considered to form by merging atoms and molecules.