We report a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the two-body fragmentation dynamics of propylene oxide dication $\left({\mathrm{C}}_3{\mathrm{H}}_6{\mathrm{O}}^{2+}\right)$ induced by highly charged ion $\left({\mathrm{C}}^{5+}\right)$ impact at energy of $112.5\mathrm{keV}/\mathrm{u}$. Using cold-target recoil-ion momentum spectroscopy, we measure the kinetic energy release distributions of four dominant two-body Coulomb explosion channels. To elucidate the underlying dissociation mechanisms, we perform transition state calculations to map the relevant reaction pathways on both singlet and triplet potential energy surfaces. The results reveal that ring opening is the key initial relaxation step for both singlet and triplet states, while the spin multiplicity influences the subsequent isomerization and dissociation processes.

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• Atomic & molecular structure
• Molecular dissociation
• Potential energy surfaces