Picosecond IR-UV pump-probe spectroscopic study of the dynamics of the vibrational relaxation of jet-cooled phenol. I. Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution of the OH and CH stretching vibrations of bare phenol

The intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) of the OH stretching vibration of jet-cooled phenol-h6 (C6H8OH) and phenol-d8 (C6D8OH) in the electronic ground state has been investigated by picosecond time-resolved IR-UV pump-probe spectroscopy. The OH stretching vibration of phenol was excited with a picosecond IR laser pulse, and the subsequent temporal evolutions of the initially excited level and the redistributed ones due to the IVR were observed by multiphoton ionization detection with a picosecond UV pulse. The IVR lifetime for the OH stretch vibration of phenol-h6 was determined to be 14 ps, while that of the OH stretch for phenol-d8 was found to be 80 ps. This remarkable change of the IVR rate constant upon the dueteration of the CH groups strongly suggests that the "doorway states" for the IVR from the OH level would be the vibrational states involving the CH stretching modes. We also investigated the IVR rate of the CH stretching vibration for phenol-h6. It was found that the IVR lifetime of the CH stretch is less than 5 ps. The fast IVR is described by the strong anharmonic resonance of the CH stretch with many other combinations or overtone bands.     

Picosecond IR-UV pump-probe spectroscopic study on the vibrational energy flow in isolated molecules and clusters

Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) and vibrational predissociation (VP) from the XH stretching vibrations, where X refers to O or C atom, of aromatic molecules and their hydrogen(H)-bonded clusters are investigated by picosecond time-resolved IR-UV pump probe spectroscopy in a supersonic beam. For bare molecules, we mainly focus on IVR of the OH stretch of phenol. We describe the IVR of the OH stretch by a two-step tier model and examine the effect of the anharmonic coupling strength and the density of states on IVR rate and mechanism by using isotope substitution. In the H-bonded clusters of phenol, we show that the relaxation of the OH stretching vibration can be described by a stepwise process and then discuss which process is sensitive to the H-bonding strength. We discuss the difference/similarity of IVR/VP between the "donor" and the "acceptor" sites in phenol-ethylene cluster by exciting the CH stretch vibrations. Finally, we study the vibrational energy transfer in the isolated molecules having the alkyl chain, namely phenylalcanol (PA). In this system, we measure the rate constant of the vibrational energy transfer between the OH stretch and the vibrations of benzene ring which are connected at the both ends of the alkyl chain. This energy transfer can be called "through-bond IVR". We investigate the three factors which are thought to control the energy transfer rate; (1) "OH <--> next CH(2)" coupling, (2) chain length and (3) conformation. We discuss the energy transfer mechanism in PAs by examining these factors.     

Vibrational spectroscopy and dynamics in the CH-stretch region of fluorene by IVR-assisted, ionization-gain stimulated Raman spectroscopy

We report stimulated Raman spectra at 0.2 and 0.03 cm(-1) resolution in the CH-stretching region of jet-cooled fluorene. The results were obtained by a version of ionization-gain stimulated Raman spectroscopy in which resonant two-photon ionization probing of the state-population changes arising from stimulated Raman transitions is assisted by the process of intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) in the Raman-excited molecule. The fluorene spectra reveal extensive vibrational coupling interactions involving both the aliphatic and aromatic CH-stretching first excited states with nearby background states. Results pertaining to the symmetric aliphatic CH-stretching fundamental are consistent with a tier model of IVR and point to vibrational energy flow out of the CH stretch on a approximately 1 ps time scale with subsequent redistribution on a approximately 5 ps time scale.     

Vibrational overtone initiated unimolecular dissociation of HOCH2OOH and HOCD2OOH: evidence for mode selective behavior

The vibrational overtone induced unimolecular dissociation of HMHP (HOCH(2)OOH) and HMHP-d(2) (HOCD(2)OOH) into OH and HOCH(2)O (HOCD(2)O) fragments is investigated in the region of the 4nu(OH) and 5nu(OH) bands. The unimolecular dissociation rates in the threshold region, corresponding to the 4nu(OH) band, exhibit measurable differences associated with excitation of the OH stretch of the alcohol versus the peroxide functional group, with the higher energy alcohol OH stretching state exhibiting a slower dissociation rate compared to the lower energy peroxide OH stretch in both HMHP and HMHP-d(2). Predictions using the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory give rates that are in reasonably good agreement with the measured dissociation rate for the alcohol OH stretch but considerably differ from the measured rates for the peroxide OH stretch in both isotopomers. The present results are interpreted as suggesting that the extent of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) is different for the two OH stretching states associated with the two functional groups in HMHP, with IVR being substantially less complete for the peroxide OH stretch. Analysis of the OH fragment product state distributions in conjunction with phase-space theory simulation gives a D(0) value of 38+/-0.7 kcal/mole for breaking the peroxide bond in HMHP.     

Quasi-classical trajectory simulations of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in HONO2 and DONO2

By use of an analytic potential energy surface developed in this work for nitric acid, the quasi-classical trajectory method was used to simulate intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR). A method was developed for monitoring the average vibrational energy in the OH (or OD) mode that uses the mean-square displacement of the bond length calculated during the trajectories. This method is effective for both rotating and nonrotating molecules. The calculated IVR time constant for HONO(2) decreases exponentially with increasing excitation energy, is almost independent of rotational temperature, and is in excellent agreement with the experimental determination (Bingemann, D.; Gorman, M. P.; King, A. M.; Crim, F. F. J. Chem.Phys. 1997, 107, 661). In DONO(2), the IVR time constants show more complicated behavior with increasing excitation energy, apparently due to 2:1 Fermi-resonance coupling with lower frequency modes. This effect should be measurable in experiments.     

Picosecond IR-UV pump-probe spectroscopic study on the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution of NH2 and CH stretching vibrations of jet-cooled aniline

Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) of the NH2 symmetric and asymmetric stretching vibrations of jet-cooled aniline has been investigated by picosecond time-resolved IR-UV pump-probe spectroscopy. A picosecond IR laser pulse excited the NH2 symmetric or asymmetric stretching vibration of aniline in the electronic ground state and the subsequent time evolutions of the excited level as well as redistributed levels were observed by a picosecond UV pulse. The IVR lifetimes for symmetric and asymmetric stretches were obtained to be 18 and 34 ps, respectively. In addition, we obtained the direct evidence that IVR proceeds via two-step bath states; that is, the NH2 stretch energy first flows into the doorway state and the energy is further dissipated into dense bath states. The rate constants of the second step were estimated to be comparable to or slower than those of the first step IVR. The relaxation behavior was compared with that of IVR of the OH stretching vibration of phenol [Y. Yamada, T. Ebata, M. Kayano, and M. Mikami J. Chem. Phys. 120, 7400 (2004)]. We found that the second step IVR process of aniline is much slower than that of phenol, suggesting a large difference of the "doorway state increasing the dense bath states" anharmonic coupling strength between the two molecules. We also observed IVR of the CH stretching vibrations, which showed much faster IVR behavior than that of the NH2 stretches. The fast relaxation is described by the interference effect, which is caused by the coherent excitation of the quasistationary states.     

Picosecond IR-UV pump-probe spectroscopic study of the dynamics of the vibrational relaxation of jet-cooled phenol. II. Intracluster vibrational energy redistribution of the OH stretching vibration of hydrogen-bonded clusters

A picosecond time-resolved IR-UV pump-probe spectroscopic study has been carried out for investigating the intracluster vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) and subsequent dissociation of hydrogen-bonded clusters of phenol (C6H5OH) and partially deuterated phenol (C6D5OH, phenol-d5) with various solvent molecules. The H-bonded OH stretching vibration was pumped by a picosecond IR pulse, and the transient S1-S0 UV spectra from the pumped level as well as the redistributed levels were observed with a picosecond UV laser. Two types of hydrogen-bonded clusters were investigated with respect to the effect of the H-bonding strength on the energy flow process: the first is of a strong "sigma-type H-bond" such as phenol-(dimethyl ether)(n=1) and phenol dimer, and the second is phenol-(ethylene)(n=1) having a weak "pi-type H-bond." It was found that the population of the IR-pumped OH level exhibits a single-exponential decay, whose rate increases with the H-bond strength. On the other hand, the transient UV spectrum due to the redistributed levels showed a different time evolutions at different monitoring UV frequency. From an analysis of the time profiles of the transient UV spectra, the following three-step scheme has been proposed for describing the energy flow starting from the IVR of the initially excited H-bonded OH stretching level to the dissociation of the H bond. (1) The intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution takes place within the phenolic site, preparing a hot phenol. (2) The energy flows from the hot phenol to the intermolecular vibrational modes of the cluster. (3) Finally, the hydrogen bond dissociates. Among the three steps, the rate constant of the first step was strongly dependent on the H-bond strength, while the rate constants of the other two steps were almost independent of the H-bond strength. For the dissociation of the hydrogen bond, the observed rate constants were compared with those calculated by the Rice, Ramsperger, Kassel, and Marcus model. The result suggests that dissociation of the hydrogen bond takes place much faster than complete energy randomization within the clusters.     

Progress in understanding the intramolecular vibrational redistribution dynamics in the S(1) state of para-fluorotoluene

We employ zero-kinetic-energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy with nanosecond laser pulses to study intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) in S(1) para-fluorotoluene. The frequency resolution of the probe step is superior to that obtained in any studies on this molecule to date. We focus on the behavior of the 13(1) (C-CH(3) stretch) and 7a(1) (C-F stretch) vibrational states whose dynamics have previously received significant attention, but with contradictory results. We show conclusively that, under our experimental conditions, the 7a(1) vibrational state undergoes significantly more efficient IVR than does the 13(1) state. Indeed, under the experimental conditions used here, the 13(1) state undergoes very little IVR. These two states are especially interesting because their energies are only 36 cm(-1) apart, and the two vibrational modes have the same symmetry. We discuss the role of experimental conditions in observations of IVR in some detail, and thereby suggest explanations for the discrepancies reported to date.     

Picosecond IR-UV pump-probe study on the vibrational relaxation of phenol-ethylene hydrogen-bonded cluster: difference of relaxation route/rate between the donor and the acceptor site excitations

Picosecond time-resolved IR-UV pump-probe spectroscopy has been performed to study intracluster vibrational energy redistribution (ICVR) and vibrational predissociation (VP) for the OH and CH stretch vibrations of phenol-ethylene hydrogen-bonded cluster. The transient UV spectra after the picosecond IR pulse excitation of these modes were observed by 1+1 REMPI via S(1) with a picosecond UV pulse. We have focused on the difference of the energy flow routes and their rates between the donor (phenol) and the acceptor (ethylene) site. Though the transient UV spectra showed a similar broad feature for all the vibrations examined, the time profiles exhibited a remarkable site dependence, as well as substantial mode dependence. Especially, we found a large difference in the early stage of the IVR evolution and the rates, whereas the VP rates were very similar.     

Motional narrowing of the rotational spectrum of trifluoropropyne at 6550 cm(-1) by intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution

We present the basic principles of dynamic rotational spectroscopy for the highly vibrationally excited symmetric top molecule trifluoropropyne (TFP,CF3CCH). Single molecular eigenstate rotational spectra of TFP were recorded in the region of the first overtone of the nu(1) acetylenic stretching mode at 6550 cm(-1) by infrared-pulsed microwave-Fourier transform microwave triple resonance spectroscopy. The average rotational constant (B) of the highly vibrationally mixed quantum states at 6550 cm(-1) is 2909.33 MHz, a value that is 40 MHz larger than the rotational constant expected for the unperturbed C-H stretch overtone (2869.39 MHz). The average rotational constant and rotational line shape of the molecular eigenstate rotational spectra are compared to the distribution of rotational constants expected for the ensemble of normal-mode vibrational states at 6550 cm(-1) that can interact by intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR). The normal-mode population distribution at 6550 cm(-1) can be described using a Boltzmann distribution with a microcanonical temperature of 1200 K. At this energy the rotational constant distribution in the normal-mode basis set is peaked at about 2910 MHz with a width of about 230 MHz. The distribution is slightly asymmetric with a tail to the high end. The experimentally measured dynamic rotational spectra are centered at the normal-mode distribution peak; however, the spectral width is significantly narrower (40 MHz) than normal-mode ensemble width (230 MHz). This reduction of the width, along with the Lorentzian shape of the eigenstate rotational spectra when compared to the Gaussian shape of the calculated ensemble distribution, illustrates the narrowing of the spectrum due to IVR exchange. The IVR exchange rate was determined to be 120 ps, about ten times faster than the rate at which energy is redistributed from the v=2 level of the acetylenic stretch.     

Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution in aromatic molecules of type C₆H₅X (X = H, D, F, Cl, CH₃, CF₃)

Femtosecond IR pump UV probe spectroscopy was employed in the gas phase to study intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) in benzene and five monosubstituted derivatives thereof. After selective excitation of the first overtone of the ring CH-stretch vibration, all molecules showed the same two-step redistribution dynamics characteristic for nonstatistical IVR. The nature of the substituent influences mainly the second, slower IVR component. The presence of an internal rotor does not alter the redistribution rate or pathway compared to that of a monatomic substituent of equal mass. Coupling order model calculations reflect the experimental trends well if the polyatomic substituents are regarded as decoupled from the intra-ring dynamics and modeled as point masses.     

Intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution as state space diffusion: classical-quantum correspondence

We study the intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) dynamics of an effective spectroscopic Hamiltonian describing the four coupled high frequency modes of CDBrClF. The IVR dynamics ensuing from nearly isoenergetic zeroth-order states, an edge (overtone) and an interior (combination) state, is studied from a state space diffusion perspective. A wavelet based time-frequency analysis reveals an inhomogeneous phase space due to the trapping of classical trajectories. Consequently the interior state has a smaller effective IVR dimension as compared to the edge state.     

Vibrational relaxation of CN stretch of pseudo-halide anions (OCN-, SCN-, and SeCN-) in polar solvents

The vibrational relaxation dynamics of pseudo-halide anions XCN- (X = O, S, Se) in polar solvents were studied to understand the effect of charge on solute-to-solvent intermolecular energy transfer (IET) and solvent assisted intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR) pathways. The T1 relaxation times of the CN stretch in these anions were measured by IR pump/IR probe spectroscopy, in which the 0-1 transition was excited, and the 0-1 and 1-2 transitions were monitored to follow the recovery of the ground state and decay of the excited state. For these anions in five solvents, H2O, D2O, CH3OH, CH3CN, and (CH3)2SO, relaxation rates followed the trend of OCN- > SCN- > SeCN-. For these anions and isotopes of SCN-, the relaxation rate was a factor of a few (2.5-10) higher in H2O than in D2O. To further probe the solvent isotope effect, the relaxation rates of S12C14N-, S13C14N-, and S12C15N- in deuterated methanols (CH3OH, CH3OD, CH3OH, CD3OD) were compared. Relaxation rate was found to be affected by the change of solvent vibrational band at the CN- stretching mode (CD3 symmetric stretch) and lower frequency regions, suggesting the presence of both direct IET and solvent assisted IVR relaxation pathways. The possible relaxation pathways and mechanisms for the observed trends in solute and solvent dependence were discussed.     

Computational experiments on the intramolecular energy flow in macromolecules

The microscopic details of the flow of energy in a single chain of polyethylene containing 300 atoms is discussed. The intramolecular dynamics of the polyethylene molecule is studied as a function of CH stretch excitation, temperature, and pressure. The rate of energy flow from CH stretching modes is found to be very rapid and irreversible, occurring on a timescale of less than 0.5 ps at low temperatures, and increases with temperature. A general characteristic two-phase energy flow behavior is observed, where there is initially a very rapid flow (due to the decay of the initial excitation) followed by a slower flow (due to energy redistribution throughout the system). The mechanism for the initial facile energy flow is shown to involve strong resonant pathways. In particular, a CH stretch/HCH bend Fermi (1:2) resonance is shown to dominate the short-time dynamics and facilitates the overall process of energy redistribution. The increase in the rate of energy flow as a function of the backbone temperature is found to be due to the increase in the density of the bath states for energy redistribution which subsequently results in the formation of new low-order resonant interactions (1:1, etc). The long-time dynamics, associated to complete redistribution of the initial CH stretch energy with all of the 894 available vibrational modes, occurs within a time of 2 ps. This timescale corresponds to the time for intramolecular redistribution. A comparison of the intramolecular redistribution time to that of intermolecular redistribution (redistribution in the condensed or solid phase as opposed to a single chain) is also made. A preliminary study of energy flow in a crystal of polyethylene (system containing 19 polyethylene chains) shows that the energy flow exhibits two very different time behaviors. The first is for the intramolecular redistribution as in the single chain study and the second is for intermolecular (chain-to-chain) redistribution. The timescale for intermolecular redistribution is found to be on the order of 0.2 ns at room temperature and pressure, about two orders of magitude larger than the intramolecular timescale.     

Vibrational relaxation of CH3I in the gas phase and in solution

Transient electronic absorption measurements reveal the vibrational relaxation dynamics of CH(3)I following excitation of the C-H stretch overtone in the gas phase and in liquid solutions. The isolated molecule relaxes through two stages of intramolecular vibrational relaxation (IVR), a fast component that occurs in a few picoseconds and a slow component that takes place in about 400 ps. In contrast, a single 5-7 ps component of IVR precedes intermolecular energy transfer (IET) to the solvent, which dissipates energy from the molecule in 50 ps, 44 ps, and 16 ps for 1 M solutions of CH(3)I in CCl(4), CDCl(3), and (CD(3))(2)CO, respectively. The vibrational state structure suggests a model for the relaxation dynamics in which a fast component of IVR populates the states that are most strongly coupled to the initially excited C-H stretch overtone, regardless of the environment, and the remaining, weakly coupled states result in a secondary relaxation only in the absence of IET.     

Iridium metal complexes as an unambiguous probe of intramolecular vibrational redistribution

Ultrafast luminescence spectroscopy has been undertaken on three iridium cored phosphorescent complexes, with the Ir(ppy)3 molecule being compared with two Ir(ppy)3 cored dendrimers. Energy dissipation by intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR) and cooling shows as a luminescence decay because it decreases the admixture of singlet character to the emitting triplet state. A larger amount of vibrational energy dissipates by IVR in dendrimer complexes. We have therefore found a methodology of obtaining unambiguous information on the IVR process and show its potential to study IVR rates as a function of vibrational energy.     

The relaxation of OH (v=1) and OD (v=1) by H2O and D2O at temperatures from 251 to 390 K

We report rate coefficients for the relaxation of OH(v=1) and OD(v=1) by H2O and D2O as a function of temperature between 251 and 390 K. All four rate coefficients exhibit a negative dependence on temperature. In Arrhenius form, the rate coefficients for relaxation (in units of 10(-12) cm3 molecule-1 s-1) can be expressed as: for OH(v=1)+H2O between 263 and 390 K: k=(2.4+/-0.9) exp((460+/-115)/T); for OH(v=1)+D2O between 256 and 371 K: k=(0.49+/-0.16) exp((610+/-90)/T); for OD(v=1)+H2O between 251 and 371 K: k=(0.92+/-0.16) exp((485+/-48)/T); for OD(v=1)+D2O between 253 and 366 K: k=(2.57+/-0.09) exp((342+/-10)/T). Rate coefficients at (297+/-1 K) are also reported for the relaxation of OH(v=2) by D2O and the relaxation of OD(v=2) by H2O and D2O. The results are discussed in terms of a mechanism involving the formation of hydrogen-bonded complexes in which intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution can occur at rates competitive with re-dissociation to the initial collision partners in their original vibrational states. New ab initio calculations on the H2O-HO system have been performed which, inter alia, yield vibrational frequencies for all four complexes: H2O-HO, D2O-HO, H2O-DO and D2O-DO. These data are then employed, adapting a formalism due to Troe (J. Troe, J. Chem. Phys., 1977, 66, 4758), in order to estimate the rates of intramolecular energy transfer from the OH (OD) vibration to other modes in the complexes in order to explain the measured relaxation rates-assuming that relaxation proceeds via the hydrogen-bonded complexes.     

Dynamical consequences of symmetry breaking in benzene and difluorobenzene

The systems benzene/benzene-d(1) and o-/m-/p-difluorobenzene were studied in the dense gas phase with ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy to investigate the effect of symmetry reduction through monodeuteration and constitutional isomerism on the timescales of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR). In both systems IVR proceeds faster in the molecules of lower symmetry. In addition the dynamics were simulated in vibrational quantum number space using a simple model based on scaling state-to-state interactions by coupling order and the energy gap law. These simulations (semi-) quantitatively reproduce the experimental data for benzene and benzene-d(1) without incorporating further molecular symmetry restrictions. The relative impact of molecular symmetry and vibrational state space structure on IVR is discussed.     

Probing intermolecular couplings in liquid water with two-dimensional infrared photon echo spectroscopy

Two-dimensional infrared photon echo and pump probe studies of the OH stretch vibration provide a sensitive probe of the correlations and couplings in the hydrogen bond network of liquid water. The nonlinear response is simulated using numerical integration of the Schrodinger equation with a Hamiltonian constructed to explicitly treat intermolecular coupling and nonadiabatic effects in the highly disordered singly and doubly excited vibrational exciton manifolds. The simulated two-dimensional spectra are in close agreement with our recent experimental results. The high sensitivity of the OH stretch vibration to the bath dynamics is found to arise from intramolecular mixing between states in the two-dimensional anharmonic OH stretch potential. Surprisingly small intermolecular couplings reproduce the experimentally observed intermolecular energy transfer times.     

Overlapping resonances in the control of intramolecular vibrational redistribution

Coherent control of bound state processes via the interfering overlapping resonance scenario [Christopher et al., J. Chem. Phys. 123, 064313 (2006)] is developed to control intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR). The approach is applied to the flow of population between bonds in a model of chaotic OCS vibrational dynamics, showing the ability to significantly alter the extent and rate of IVR by varying quantum interference contributions.