Geometries and excited-state dynamics of van der Waals dimers and higher clusters of 1-cyanonaphthalene

Mass-selected resonant two-photon ionization and infrared-ultraviolet double-resonance spectroscopies are combined with correlated (second Moller-Plesset perturbation) quantum chemistry calculation to probe electronic spectra and ground-state geometries of the jet-cooled dimer and higher clusters of 1-cyanonaphthalene. The results indicate that the dimer and trimer have stacked geometries, consistent with the highly efficient, rapid excimer formation that follows photoexcitation of the ground-state clusters.