Supercollisions and energy transfer of highly vibrationally excited molecules

Collisional energy-transfer probability distribution functions of highly vibrationally excited molecules and the existence of supercollisions remain as the outstanding questions in the field of intermolecular energy transfer. In this investigation, collisional interactions between ground state Kr atoms and highly vibrationally excited azulene molecules (4.66 eV internal energy) were examined at a collision energy of 410 cm-1 using a crossed molecular beam apparatus and time-sliced ion imaging techniques. A large amount of energy transfer (1000-5000 cm-1) in the backward direction was observed. We report the experimental measurement for the shape of the energy-transfer probability distribution function along with a direct observation of supercollisions.     

Vibrational-translational energy transfer n atom-polyatomic molecule collisions in thermal reaction systems

Vibrational-translational energy transfer probabilities and collisional efficiencies are calculated for atom-polyatomic molecule collisions. It is assumed that a collision complex is formed and that the total internal vibrational energy is statistically distributed among all the modes of the complex. An attractive potential is assumed and account is taken of the centrifugal barrier. Conservation of system angular momentum is imposed. Convolution of the several thermal distribution functions is carried out and completeness and detailed balance are observed. Comparison of calculated quantum statistical quantities with experiment is made for the thermal isomerization of methyl and ethyl isocyanide in the presence of heavy atomic bath gases, such as Xe or Ar, and semiquantitative agreement is found.     

Potential energy functions of polyatomic molecules

A direct method is proposed for determining polyatomic potential energy functions, expressed in terms of normal coordinates, which yield a given set of vibrational excitation energies. The method is a modification of the semiclassical technique for computing vibrational energy levels of Percival and Pomphrey. The technique is used to derive potential functions for the NO₂, SO₂ and ClO₂ molecules. With these potentials twenty two higher vibrational excitations energies have been predicted for these molecules and these results differ from the experimental values by at most 3 cm^?1. The computed potential functions are not unique despite the apparent accuracy of the vibrational energy levels. Comparison with the RKR method indicates that the present method must be extended to include rotational perturbations.     

Energy transfer between polyatomic molecules. 3. Energy transfer quantities and probability density functions in self-collisions of benzene, toluene, p-xylene and azulene

This paper is the third and last in a series of papers that deal with collisional energy transfer, CET, between aromatic polyatomic molecules. Paper 1 of this series (J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 8310) reports on the mechanism and quantities of CET between an excited benzene and cold benzene and Ar bath. Paper 2 in the series (J. Phys. Chem., in press) discusses CET between excited toluene, p-xylene and azulene with cold benzene and Ar and CET between excited benzene colliding with cold toluene, p-xylene and azulene. The present work reports on CET in self-collisions of benzene, toluene, p-xylene and azulene. Two modes of excitation are considered, identical excitation energies and identical vibrational temperatures for all four molecules. It compares the present results with those of papers 1 and 2 and reports new findings on average vibrational, rotational, and translational energy, , transferred in a single collision. CET takes place mainly via vibration to vibration energy transfer. The effect of internal rotors on CET is discussed and CET quantities are reported as a function of temperature and excitation energy. It is found that the temperature dependence of CET quantities is unexpected, resembling a parabolic function. The density of vibrational states is reported and its effect on CET is discussed. Energy transfer probability density functions, P(E,E'), for various collision pairs are reported and it is shown that the shape of the curves is convex at low temperatures and can be concave at high temperatures. There is a large supercollision tail at the down wing of P(E,E'). The mechanisms of CET are short, impulsive collisions and long-lived chattering collisions where energy is transferred in a sequence of short internal encounters during the lifetime of the collision complex. The collision complex lifetimes as a function of temperature are reported. It is shown that dynamical effects control CET. A comparison is made with experimental results and it is shown that good agreement is obtained.     

Double step-ladder model of activation in the processes of high-temperature dissociation of polyatomic molecules

A unified mechanism of the interaction of vibrational relaxation and dissociation of polyatomic molecules working in a wide temperature range (from 2000 to 10000 K) is proposed, which is described by a double step-ladder model. Relaxation due to collisions with the transfer of small and large portions of energy is taken into account. The transfer efficiency of the portions of thermal energy in the high-temperature decomposition upon the collisions of CO₂ molecules with atomic and molecular partners is determined. The reaction rate constant of high-temperature dissociation of carbon dioxide is calculated. The data presented in the article suggest a new method for elucidating the mechanism of energy exchange in the absence of vibrational and translational equilibrium and at ultrahigh temperatures when the dissociation takes place during the time of several collisions.     

Elastic scattering and rotational excitation of nitrogen molecules by sodium atoms

A quantal study of the rotational excitation of nitrogen molecules by sodium atoms is carried out. We present the two-dimensional potential energy surface of the NaN(2) complex, with the N(2) molecule treated as a rigid rotor. The interaction potential is computed using the spin unrestricted coupled-cluster method with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations (UCCSD(T)). The long-range part of the potential is constructed from the dynamic electric dipole polarizabilities of Na and N(2). The total, differential, and momentum transfer cross sections for rotationally elastic and inelastic transitions are calculated using the close-coupling approach for energies between 5 cm(-1) and 1500 cm(-1). The collisional and momentum transfer rate coefficients are calculated for temperatures between 100 K and 300 K, corresponding to the conditions under which Na-N(2) collisions occur in the mesosphere.     

Vibrational relaxation induced population inversions in laser pumped polyatomic molecules

Conditions for population inversion in laser pumped polyatomic molecules are described. For systems which exhibit metastable vibrational population distributions [slow vibration—translation/rotation (V—T/R) relaxation], large, long lived inversions are possible even when the vibrational modes are strongly coupled by rapid collisional vibration—vibration (V—V) energy transfer. Overtone states of a hot mode are found to invert with respect to fundamental levels of a cold mode even at V—V steady state. Inversion persists for a V—T/R relaxation time. A gain of 4 m^?1 for the 2v₃ → v₂ transition in CH₃F (λ ≈ 15.9 μ) was found assuming a spontaneous emission lifetime of 10 s for this transition. General equations are derived which can be used to determine the magnitude of population inversion in any laser pumped, vibrationally metastable, polyatomic molecule. A discussion of factors controlling the population maxima of different vibrational states in optically pumped, V—V equilibrated metastable polyatomics is also given.     

Energy transfer between polyatomic molecules. 1. Gateway modes, energy transfer quantities and energy transfer probability density functions in benzene-benzene and Ar-benzene collisions

We report collisional energy transfer, CET, quantities for polyatomic-polyatomic collisions and use excited benzene collisions with cold benzene bath, B-B, as our sample system and compare our results with the CET of excited benzene with Ar bath. We find that the gateway mode for both systems is the out-of-plane modes and that in B-B CET, vibration to vibration, V-V, is the dominant channel. Rotations play a mechanistic role in the CET but the net rotational energy transfer is small compared to V-V. The shape of the down side of the energy transfer probability density function, P(E,E'), is convex for B-B collisions and it becomes less so as the temperature increases. In Ar-B collisions, P(E,E') is concave and it becomes less so as the temperature decreases. We report average vibrational, rotational, and translational energy transferred, , as function of temperature for various initial conditions.     

Vibrational lifetimes and intramolecular energy randomisation of polyatomic molecules in liquids

Transient experiments with picosecond laser pulses give valuable information on the dynamic properties of polyatomic molecules in the electronic ground state. In small molecules the decay of vibrational energy occurs via individual lower energy states; in large molecules the experimental data support a statistical model.     

Adiabatic passage by light-induced potentials in polyatomic molecules

In this paper we study the first application of adiabatic passage by light-induced potentials in polyatomic molecules. We analyze the effects of increasing the dimensionality of the system on the adiabatic requirements of the method and the role of intramolecular coupling among the vibrational modes. By using a model of two-dimensional displaced harmonic oscillators with or without rotation of the normal mode axis of the excited states (Duschinsky effect) we find that (1) it is possible to selectively transfer the vibrational population by adiabatic elongation of the bonds, (2) the adiabatic demands depend mainly on the energy barrier between the ground and excited electronic configurations, and not on the dimension of the system, (3) in the presence of intramolecular couplings the selective transfer can be achieved but at the cost of increasing the duration and/or the intensity of the pulses, which are needed to overcome small avoided crossings, and (4) the problem of selectivity becomes more important as the vibrational energy of the initial wave function increases.     

Coherence transfer processes in vibrational relaxation of polyatomic molecules in condensed media

The vibrational relaxation of a polyatomic molecule in a condensed host is studied by a consideration of two molecular vibrations. Relaxation processes, intermode coupling terms and vibrational frequency fluctuation contributions are retained. Population decay (T₁), dephasing (T₂), and coherence transfer rates are evaluated through second order in the limit where the host bath dynamics are rapid compared to these molecular timescales. The rates are expressed in terms of temperature and frequency dependent bath correlation functions. For the special case of a three level system (the ground state and ones where one of the two vibrational modes is excited) the important effects of anharmonicity are incorporated. It is shown that certain coherence transfer terms involve zero frequency bath correlation functions, so they should be larger than the high frequency ones which obey modified energy gap laws. A discussion is presented of the types of interactions which may contribute to these coherence transfer processes.     

Energy transfer of highly vibrationally excited azulene. III. Collisions between azulene and argon

The energy transfer dynamics between highly vibrationally excited azulene molecules (37 582 cm(-1) internal energy) and Ar atoms in a series of collision energies (200, 492, 747, and 983 cm(-1)) was studied using a crossed-beam apparatus along with time-sliced velocity map ion imaging techniques. The angular resolved collisional energy-transfer probability distribution functions were measured directly from the scattering results of highly vibrationally excited azulene. Direct T-VR energy transfer was found to be quite efficient. In some instances, nearly all of the translational energy is transferred to vibrational/rotational energy. On the other hand, only a small fraction of vibrational energy is converted to translational energy (V-T). Significant amount of energy transfer from vibration to translation was observed at large collision energies in backward and sideway directions. The ratios of total cross sections between T-VR and V-T increases as collision energy increases. Formation of azulene-argon complexes during the collision was observed at low enough collision energies. The complexes make only minor contributions to the measured translational to vibrational/rotational (T-VR) energy transfer.     

Collisional energy transfer in highly vibrationally excited molecules: A very low-pressure pyrolysis study of acetyl chloride

The average downward energy transfer (〈Δ E_down〉) is obtained for highly vibrationally excited acetyl chloride with Ne and C₂H₄ bath gases at ca. 870 K. Data are obtained by the technique of very low-pressure pyrolysis (VLPP). Fitting these data by solution of the appropriate reaction-diffusion integrodifferential master equation yields the gas/gas collisional energy transfer parameters: 〈Δ E_down〉 values are 220 ± 10 cm^?1 (Ne bath gas) and 330 ± 20 cm^?1 (C₂H₄). These energy transfer quantities are much less than those predicted by statistical theories, or those observed for similar sized molecules such as CH₃CH₂Cl. These results are explained by the qualitative predictions of the biased random walk model wherein the fundamental mechanism of energy transfer is the multiple interactions between the bath gas and the individual atoms of the reactant molecule, during the course of the collision event. The charge distribution of acetyl chloride decreases the number of such interactions, thereby reducing the amount of energy transferred per collision.     

Effects of anharmonicity on non-radiative transitions in polyatomic molecules

The effect of anharmonicity on the non-radiative transition in large molecules is examined within the Morse potential surface model. The vibrational wavefunctions are assumed to be the product of the harmonic and Morse oscillator wavefunctions. The method of factorization introduced by Gelbart et al. is used for the evaluation of a density weighted Franck-Condon factor. As an example, we choose the intersystem crossing ³ B _1u→¹ A _1g in benzene. The numerical calculation shows that the anharmonicity causes an increase by a numerical factor ～ 10³ in the non-radiative transition rate. The electronic energy distribution over the vibrational modes in the final state is determined and compared with that obtained using the harmonic potential surface model.     

On a semiclassical approach to energy transfer in polyatomic molecules

A semiclassical method for energy transfer in polyatomic molecules is suggested. The method is based on a partial quantization of the vibrational degrees of freedom. The remaining degrees of freedom are treated classically. As an example a system with three quantum coordinates is considered. The Coriolis coupling terms are taken into account in the quantum mechanical part of the system and discussed for the N₂ + CO₂ system.     

Self-consistent group calculations on polyatomic molecules V. Molecules with a double or triple bond

SCGF calculations are reported for the ground state of ethylene, formaldehyde, acetylene and hydrogen cyanide. A minimum basis of contracted Gaussians was used and optimum hybridization was determined for each of the molecules by systematic variation of the hybridization parameters until the total electronic energy was a minimum. Properties of CH bonds as well as CC, CO and CN σ and π bonds are discussed in some detail. The results show that the assumption of transferable framework integrals β, basic to all semiempirical methods of calculating molecular wave functions, is strictly justified within the SCGF method.     

Application of the collision-complex model to collision-induced intersystem crossing and collisional magnetic quenching of polyatomic molecules

The purpose of this paper is to apply the collision-complex model to collision-induced intersystem crossing in poly-atomic molecules (glyoxal, propynal, pyrimidine, etc.), and to the collisional magnetic quenching of polyatomic molecules, with particular emphasis on glyoxal.     

Charge separation reaction in clusters of polar molecules: MD simulations

Rate constant of intermolecular electron transfer (ET) in a photoexcited donor-acceptor model system solvated by a cluster of polar molecules has been expressed in terms of the statistical distribution of the electrostatic potential energy difference between the reacting sites. This distribution has been calculated for a particular case of acetonitrile clusters a ≈120 K by MD computer simulation. The MD values of the cluster reorganization energy and the ET rate constant have been compared with the corresponding MD results for the donor-acceptor pair solvated in bulk acetonitrile and with theoretical predictions based on the continuum model.     

Simple model for the description of anharmonic vibrations of polyatomic molecules

We propose a simple, in respect to computations, model and the calculation method for energy levels and intensities in IR spectra of polyatomic molecules in the anharmonic approximation for sufficiently high values of vibrational quantum numbers but with a restriction of possible motions of nuclei within the region not reaching yet the dissociation limit.     

One- and two-photon-induced ring-cleavage reactions of strained benzocycloalkenes via hot molecules

The ring-cleavage reactions of a series of benzocycloalkenes were studied using an ArF excimer laser. Product formation was significantly suppressed in the presence of nitrogen; therefore, the presence of vibrationally excited states (hot molecules), as intermediates, was indicated. The product of highly strained benzocyclobutene was linearly proportional to the laser fluence, whereas those of benzocyclopentene and benzocyclohexene were proportional to the square of the laser fluence in the presence of nitrogen. These phenomena cannot be understood as photochemical bond cleavage in the electronic excited state, but instead appear to be the result of single- and two-photon reactions of hot molecules. The dissociation rate constants were evaluated by a statistical rate theory under the assumption that the reaction occurred from the hot molecule. The reaction rate of highly strained benzocyclobutene was predicted to be faster than the collisional rate with foreign gas, even if it had vibrational energy equivalent to one photon; however, the reaction rates of less strained benzocyclohexene were expected to compete with the collisional rate when the vibrational energy was equivalent to two photons. Benzocyclopentene was an intermediate case and showed both single- and two-photon reactions. The dissociation rate constant of 1.4 x 10(6) s(-1) was successfully obtained from benzocyclopentene under collision-free conditions. This value was in fair agreement with the calculated value. The different dissociation rate constants of the molecules were well-explained in terms of the strain energy. Although the strain energy varies in a wide range (10-130 kJ mol(-1)), the simple model of the calculations reproduced the observed values of the CH2-CH2 bond dissociation in strained benzocycloalkenes.