  The possibility of suddenly ionized molecules undergoing extremely fast
electron hole dynamics prior to significant structural change was first
recognized more than 20 years ago and termed charge migration. The accurate
probing of ultrafast electron hole dynamics requires measurements that have
both sufficient temporal resolution and can detect the localization of a
specific hole within the molecule. We report an investigation of the dynamics
of inner valence hole states in isopropanol where we use an x-ray pump/x-ray
probe experiment, with site and state-specific probing of a transient hole
state localized near the oxygen atom in the molecule, together with an ab
initio theoretical treatment. We record the signature of transient hole
dynamics and make the first observation of dynamics driven by frustrated
Auger-Meitner transitions. We verify that the hole lifetime is consistent with
our theoretical prediction. This state-specific measurement paves the way to
widespread application for observations of transient hole dynamics localized in
space and time in molecules and thus to charge transfer phenomena that are
fundamental in chemical and material physics.
