Dynamics of the 193 nm photodissociation of dichlorocarbene

The dynamics of the 193 nm photodissociation of the CCl2 molecule have been investigated in a molecular beam experiment. The CCl2 parent molecule was generated in a molecular beam by pyrolysis of CHCl3, and both CCl2 and the CCl photofragment were detected by laser fluorescence excitation. The 193 nm attenuation cross section was estimated from the reduction of the CCl2 signal as a function of the photolysis laser fluence. The internal state distribution of the CCl photofragment was derived from analysis of laser fluorescence excitation spectra in the A 2Delta-X 2Pi band system. Most of the energy available to the CCl(X 2Pi)+Cl fragments appears as translational energy. The CCl fragment rotational energy is much less than predicted in an impulsive model. The excited electronic state appears to dissociate indirectly, through coupling with a repulsive state arising from the ground-state CCl(X 2Pi)+Cl asymptote. The identity of the initially excited electronic state is discussed on the basis of what is known about the CCl2 electronic states.     

Hydrogen atom formation from the photodissociation of water ice at 193 nm

The TOF spectra of photofragment hydrogen atoms from the 193 nm photodissociation of amorphous ice at 90-140 K have been measured. The spectra consist of both a fast and a slow components that are characterized by average translational energies of 2k(B)T(trans)=0.39+/-0.04 eV (2300+/-200 K) and 0.02 eV (120+/-20 K), respectively. The incident laser power dependency of the hydrogen atom production suggests one-photon process. The electronic excitation energy of a branched cluster, (H(2)O)(6+1), has been theoretically calculated, where (H(2)O)(6+1) is a (H(2)O)(6) cyclic cluster attached by a water molecule with the hydrogen bond. The photoabsorption of this branched cluster is expected to appear at around 200 nm. The source of the hydrogen atoms is attributed to the photodissociation of the ice surface that is attached by water molecules with the hydrogen bond. Atmospheric implications are estimated for the photodissociation of the ice particles (Noctilucent clouds) at 190-230 nm in the region between 80 and 85 km altitude.     

The photodissociation of phenylsilane at 193 nm

Molecular hydrogen is observed to be one of the major primary products in the 193 nm photodissociation of phenylsilane. A two-channel dissociation mechanism is proposed, yielding PhSiH+H₂ and SiH₂ +PhH with the former predominant. The implications of this observation for experiments which utilise phenylsilane as a precursor for SiH₂ radicals are discussed.     

Dynamics of OH radical generation in laser-induced photodissociation of tetrahydropyran at 193 nm

Tetrahydropyran (THP) undergoes photodissociation on excitation with ArF laser at 193 nm, generating OH radical as one of the transient photoproducts. Laser-induced fluorescence technique is used to detect the nascent OH radical and measure its energy state distribution. The OH radical is formed mostly in the ground vibrational level (v"=0), with low rotational excitation. The rotational distribution of OH (v"=0,J) is characterized by a temperature of 433+/-31 K, corresponding to a rotational energy of 0.86+/-0.06 kcalmol. Two Lambda-doublet levels, 2Pi+(A') and 2Pi-(A"), and the two spin-orbit states, the 2Pi(3/2) and 2Pi(1/2), of OH are populated statistically for all rotational levels. The relative translational energy associated with the photoproducts in the OH channel is calculated to be 21.9+/-3.2 kcal mol(-1), from the Doppler-broadened linewidth, giving an ft value of approximately 43%, and most of the remaining 57% of the available energy is distributed in the internal modes of the other photofragment, C5H9. The observed distribution of the available energy is explained well, using a hybrid model of energy partitioning, with an exit barrier of 40 kcal mol(-1). The potential-energy surface of the reaction channel was mapped by ab initio molecular-orbital calculations. Based on experimental and theoretical results, a mechanism for OH formation is proposed. Electronically excited THP relaxes to the ground electronic state, and from there, a sequence of reactions takes place, generating OH. The proposed mechanism first involves C-O bond scission, followed by a 1,3 H atom migration to O atom, and finally, the C-OH bond cleavage giving OH.     

Λ-doublet populations in CH(A2Δ) produced in the 193 nm multiphoton dissociation of (CH3)2CO, (CD3)2CO, (CH3)2S and CH3NO2

Unequal intensities of the Λ-doublet components were observed in the CH(A²Δ-X²Π) emission following the multiphoton dissociation of (CH₃)₂CO, (CH₃)₂S and CH₃NO₂ by an ArF laser (193 nm). The power dependence of the emission intensity was estimated to be cubic (3.1±0.2) when the laser power was below ≈ 8×10¹⁷ photons cm^?2 pulse^?1. The Λ-doublet populations depended on the rotational quantum number N′ and the preferred level changed at N′ = 20. A similar behavior was observed for the CD(A²Δ) from (CD₃)₂CO. Rotational distributions show bimodal behavior, having a hump around N′ = 13 in CH(A²Δ) and N′ = 11 in CD(A²Δ). These trends indicate that the CH(A²Δ) is produced through multiple processes where stepwise mechanisms are operative via either CH₂ or CH₃, or both radicals as intermediates.     

Molecular photofragment orientation in the photodissociation of H2O2 at 193 nm and 248 nm

Angular momentum orientation has been observed in the OH(X(2)Π, v = 0) fragments generated by circularly polarized photodissociation of H(2)O(2) at 193 nm and 248 nm. The magnitude and sign of the orientation are strongly dependent on the OH(X) photofragment rotational state. In addition to conventional laser induced fluorescence methods, Zeeman quantum beat spectroscopy has also been used as a complementary tool to probe the angular momentum orientation parameters. The measured orientation at 193 nm is attributed solely to photodissociation via the ?(1)A state, even though at this wavelength H(2)O(2) is excited near equally to both the ?(1)A and B(1)B electronic states. This observation is confirmed by measurements of the photofragment orientation at 248 nm, where access to the ?(1)A state dominates. Several possible mechanisms are discussed to explain the observed photofragment orientation, and a simple physical model is developed, which includes the effects of the polarization of the parent molecular rotation upon absorption of circularly polarized light. Good agreement between the experimental and simulation results is obtained, lending support to the validity of the model. It is proposed that photofragment orientation arises mainly from the coupling of the parent rotational angular momentum with that induced during photofragmentation.     

Water photodissociation in free ice nanoparticles at 243 nm and 193 nm

The photolysis of (H(2)O)(n) nanoparticles of various mean sizes between 85 and 670 has been studied in a molecular beam experiment. At the dissociation wavelength 243 nm (5.10 eV), a two-photon absorption leads to H-atom production. The measured kinetic energy distributions of H-fragments exhibit a peak of slow fragments below 0.4 eV with maximum at approximately 0.05 eV, and a tail of faster fragments extending to 1.5 eV. The dependence on the cluster size suggests that the former fragments originate from the photodissociation of an H(2)O molecule in the cluster interior leading to the H-fragment caging and eventually generation of a hydronium H(3)O molecule. The photolysis of surface molecules yields the faster fragments. At 193 nm (6.42 eV) a single photon process leads to a small signal from molecules directly photolyzed on the cluster surface. The two photon processes at this wavelength may lead to cluster ionization competing with its photodissociation, as suggested by the lack of H-fragment signal increase. The experimental findings are complemented by theoretical calculations.     

Photofragmentation of SnCl2 at 193 nm

Using photofragment spectroscopy the time of flight spectra and angular distributions for SnCl fragments, Sn and Cl atoms from the fragmentation of SnCl₂ have been measured at 193 nm. From the time, of flight it was found that dissociation takes place into SnCl (X ²Π) and Cl(²P) and that the SnCl fragment is highly vibrationally excited. To account for this effect we propose a mechanism, in which the upper potential surface has a saddle point at a greater Sn-Cl₂ distance than the ground state. The angular distribution exhibits an anisotropy parameter β = 0.21. A model was developed, based on a charge transfer from the p nonbonding orbitals on the Cl atoms to the p_x orbital on the Sn atom. The model predicts that A₁ → B₂ transitions dominate over A₁ → B₁ transitions and that A₁ → B₁ transitions are negligible in good agreement with the experimental observations.     

Imaging the Dissociation Dynamics of Si2+ via Two-Photon Excitation at 193 nm

In the one-color experiment at 193 nm, we studied the photodissociation of Si₂⁺ ions prepared by two-photon ionization using the time-sliced ion velocity map imaging method. The Si⁺ imaging study shows that Si₂⁺ dissociation results in two distinct channels: Si(³P_g)+Si⁺(²P_u) and Si(¹D₂)+Si⁺(²P_u). The main channel Si(³P_g)+Si⁺(²P_u)) is produced by the dissociation of the Si₂⁺ ions in more than one energetically available excited electronic state, which are from the ionization of Si₂(v=0-5). Particularly, the dissociation from the vibrationally excited Si₂(v=1) shows the strongest signal. In contrast, the minor Si(¹D₂)+Si⁺(²P_u) channel is due to an avoided crossing between the two 2²Π_g states in the same symmetry. It has also been observed the one-photon dissociation of Si₂⁺(X⁴Σ_g^-) into Si(1D2)+Si+(2Pu) products with a large kinetic energy release.     

Studies on photodissociation dynamics of butadiene monoxide at 193 nm

Butadiene monoxide (BMO) undergoes the S(0)-->S(1) transition, involving the excitation of both pi and n electrons to pi(*) orbital, at 193 nm. After relaxing to the ground electronic state via internal conversion, BMO molecules undergo intramolecular rearrangement and subsequently dissociate to form unexpected OH radicals, which were detected state selectively by laser-induced fluorescence technique, and the energy state distribution was measured. OH is produced vibrationally cold, OH(nu(")=0,J(")), with the rotational population characterized by a rotational temperature of 456+/-70 K. The major portion (approximately 60%) of the available energy is partitioned into internal degrees of the photofragments, namely, vibration and rotation. A considerable portion (25%-35%) also goes to the relative translation of the products. The Lambda doublet and spin-orbit ratios of OH were measured to be nearly unity, implying statistical distribution of these states and, hence, no preference for any of the Lambda doublet (Lambda+ and Lambda-) and spin-orbit (Pi(3/2) and Pi(1/2)) states. Formation time of the nascent OH radical was measured to be <100 ns. Different products, such as crotonaldehyde and methyl vinyl ketone, were detected by gas chromatography as stable products of photodissociation. A reaction mechanism for the formation of all these photoproducts, transient and stable, is proposed. The multiple pathways by which these products can be formed have been theoretically optimized, and energies have been calculated. Absorption cross section of BMO at 193 nm was measured, and quantum yield of OH generation channel was also determined.     

CO internal excitation in the photodissociation of Cr(CO)6 at 278 nm

Time-resolved infrared diode laser spectroscopy has been used to probe CO internal excitation in the photodissociation of Cr(CO)₆ at 278 nm. At the high fluence level of these experiments, CO state distributions are not consistent with a statistical model of single-photon absorption. A simple Franck—Condon treatment, assuming multiphoton absorption into a dissociative continuum, qualitatively describes the observed CO vibrational distribution.     

Photodissociation Dynamics of Benzene at 193 nm

Photodissociation of benzene at 193 nm has been investigated using the photofragment translational spectroscopy (PTS) technique. H atom elimination channel for benzene at 193 nm is from a one‐photon dissociation process, while H₂ and CH₃ elimination channels come from a two‐photon excitation process.     

Mechanistic investigation on the multi-channel reaction of Cl+CH2CO

All the geometries, vibrational frequencies and energies of different stationary points involved in the multi-channel reaction of the CH₂CO with Cl are calculated by B3LYP/6-311++G** and the results agree with the experimental values. The vibrational mode analysis is used to elucidate the relationships of the reactant, the transition states, intermediate and the products. Through the analysis, the major reaction channel and the minor reaction channel are confirmed. A new study method of analyzing reaction mechanism is presented.     

Product rotational distribution in the photodissociation of CH3CF2Cl

In the laser-induced unimolecular dissociation CH₃CF₂Cl an exceedingly narrow rotational distribution of the HCl product has been observed. The experimental evidence suggests that a few rotations around J = 16 are unusually open channels to either the vibrational relaxation of HCl or the dissociation.The dissociation is investigated in steady state as well as in a thermal beam by far-infrared emission.     

Imaging Photodissociation Dynamics of MgO at 193 nm

In this work, we used time-sliced ion velocity imaging to study the photodissociation dynamics of MgO at \mbox{193 nm}. Three dissociation pathways are found through the speed and angular distributions of magnesium. One pathway is the one-photon excitation of MgO(X\begin{document}$^1\Sigma^+$\end{document}) to MgO(G\begin{document}$^1\Pi$\end{document}) followed by spin-orbit coupling between the G\begin{document}$^1\Pi$\end{document}, 3\begin{document}$^3\Pi$\end{document} and 1\begin{document}$^5\Pi$\end{document} states, and finally dissociated to the Mg(\begin{document}$^3$\end{document}P\begin{document}$_\textrm{u}$\end{document})+O(\begin{document}$^3$\end{document}P\begin{document}$_\textrm{g}$\end{document}) along the 1\begin{document}$^5\Pi$\end{document} surface. The other two pathways are one-photon absorption of MgO(A\begin{document}$^1\Pi$\end{document}) state to MgO(G\begin{document}$^1\Pi$\end{document}) and MgO(4\begin{document}$^1\Pi$\end{document}) state to dissociate into Mg(\begin{document}$^3$\end{document}P\begin{document}$_\textrm{u}$\end{document})+O(\begin{document}$^3$\end{document}P\begin{document}$_\textrm{g}$\end{document}) and Mg(\begin{document}$^1$\end{document}S\begin{document}$_\textrm{g}$\end{document})+O(\begin{document}$^1$\end{document}S\begin{document}$_\textrm{g}$\end{document}), respectively. The anisotropy parameters of the dissociation pathways are related to the lifetime of the vibrational energy levels and the coupling of rotational and vibronic spin-orbit states. The total kinetic energy analysis gives \begin{document}$D_0$\end{document}(Mg\begin{document}$-$\end{document}O)=21645\begin{document}$\pm$\end{document}50 cm\begin{document}$^{-1}$\end{document}.     

Theoretical study on the reaction mechanism of (CH3)3CO+CO

The reaction mechanism of (CH₃)₃CO with CO has been theoretically investigated using density-functional theory (DFT) calculations at B3LYP/6-31G* level. In order to get more reliable energy values the single-point energy is evaluated at CCSD (T)/6-31++G** level. The results show that the reaction is multi-channel and the reaction of (CH₃)₃CO radical with CO mostly produces (CH₃)₃C + CO₂. The reaction could play a role in eliminating air pollution.     

Detection of OH radical in laser induced photodissociation of tetrahydrofuran at 193 nm

On excitation at 193 nm, tetrahydrofuran (THF) generates OH as one of the photodissociation products. The nascent energy state distribution of the OH radical was measured employing laser induced fluorescence technique. It is observed that the OH radical is formed mostly in the ground vibrational level, with low rotational excitation (approximately 3%). The rotational distribution of OH (v"=0,J) is characterized by rotational temperature of 1250+/-140 K. Two spin-orbit states, 2Pi3/2 and 2Pi1/2 of OH are populated statistically. But, there is a preferential population in Lambda doublet levels. For all rotational numbers, the 2Pi+(A') levels are preferred to the 2Pi-(A") levels. The relative translational energy associated with the photoproducts in the OH channel is calculated to be 17.4+/-2.2 kcal mol-1, giving an fT value of approximately 36%, and the remaining 61% of the available energy is distributed in the internal modes of the other photofragment, i.e., C4H7. The observed distribution of the available energy agrees well with a hybrid model of energy partitioning, predicting an exit barrier of approximately 16 kcal mol-1. Based on both ab initio molecular orbital calculations and experimental results, a plausible mechanism for OH formation is proposed. The mechanism involves three steps, the C-O bond cleavage of the ring, H atom migration to the O atom, and the C-OH bond scission, in sequence, to generate OH from the ground electronic state of THF. Besides this high energy reaction channel, other photodissociation channels of THF have been identified by detecting the stable products, using Fourier transform infrared and gas chromatography.     

Ab initio and density functional calculations of core excitation spectra of CO, H2CO and F2CO

Calculations of the discrete core excitation spectra, including Rydberg transitions, are reported for CO, H₂CO and F₂CO employing ab initio and density functional approaches. The highly correlated QDPTCI approach compares well with experimental data and other accurate ab initio results. It appears that reliable values can be currently obtained for small molecules, although considerable uncertainty still affects intensity values, notably those experimentally derived. Comparison with the simpler 1h–1p CI approach indicates some deficiencies of the latter, attributed to the use of inadequate orbitals. The density functional approach proves generally reliable and can be profitably employed for the interpretation of experimental data in large systems, although presently limited to the case of nondegenerate core holes.     

The stability of allyl radicals following the photodissociation of allyl iodide at 193 nm

The photodissociation of allyl iodide (C3H5I) at 193 nm was investigated by using a combination of vacuum-ultraviolet photoionization of the allyl radical, resonant multiphoton ionization of the iodine atoms, and velocity map imaging. The data provide insight into the primary C-I bond fission process and into the dissociative ionization of the allyl radical to produce C3H3+. The experimental results are consistent with the earlier results of Szpunar et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 119, 5078 (2003)], in that some allyl radicals with internal energies higher than the secondary dissociation barrier are found to be stable. This stability results from the partitioning of available energy between the rotational and vibrational degrees of freedom of the radical, the effects of a centrifugal barrier along the reaction coordinate, and the effects of the kinetic shift in the secondary dissociation of the allyl radical. The present results suggest that the primary dissociation of allyl iodide to allyl radicals plus I*(2P(1/2)) is more important than previously suspected.