These results are counterintuitive as we might expect that such ultrashort lifetimes would require hoppings occurring near conical intersections. However, as we showed in that work, the lowest energy S3/S2 conical intersection was too high for both molecules. In 6-AIH + , the intersection is 1.3 eV above the S3 minimum, while in 7-AIH + , it is 1.5 eV above it.