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Time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy is emerging as a uniquelypowerful tool to probe coupled electronic-nuclear dynamics in photo-excitedmolecules. Theoretical studies to date have established that time-resolvedX-ray absorption spectroscopy is an atom-specific probe of excited-state wavepacket passage through a seam of conical intersections (CIs). However, in manymolecular systems, there are competing dynamical pathways involving CIs ofdifferent electronic and nuclear character. Discerning these pathways remainsan important challenge. Here, we demonstrate that time-resolved X-rayabsorption spectroscopy (TRXAS) has the potential to resolve competing channelsin excited-state non-adiabatic dynamics. Using the example of 1,3-butadiene, weshow how TRXAS discerns the different electronic structures associated withpassage through multiple conical intersections. Trans 1,3-butadiene exhibits abranching between polarized and radicaloid pathways associated with ethylenic"twisted-pyramidalized" and excited-state cis-trans isomerization dynamics,respectively. The differing electronic structures along these pathways giverise to different XAS signals, indicating the possibility of resolving them.Furthermore, this indicates that XAS, and other core-level spectroscopictechniques, offer the appealing prospect of directly probing the effects ofselective chemical substitution and its ability to affect chemical control overexcited-state molecular dynamics.

Resolving Competing Conical Intersection Pathways: Time-Resolved X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy of trans-1,3-Butadiene