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.