Photolysis Dynamics Laser Chemistry Lab

Hexapole oriented 2-bromobutane is photodissociated and detected by a slice-ion-imaging technique at 234 nm. The laser wavelength corresponds to the C - Br bond breaking with emission of a Br atom fragment in two accessible fine-structure states: the ground state Br (2P3/2) and the excited state Br (2P1/2), both observable separately by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI). Orientation is evaluated by time-of-flight measurements combined with slice-ion-imaging. © 2016 Author(s).

This perspective article aims at accounting for the versatility of some current experimental investigations for exploring novel paths in chemical reactions. It updates a previous one [Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2005, 5, 291] and is limited to work by the authors. The use of advanced molecular beam techniques together with a combination of modern tools for specific preparation, selection and detection permits us to discover new trends in reactivity in the gas phase as well as at interfaces. We specifically discuss new facets of stereodynamics, namely the effects of molecular orientation and alignment on reactive and photodissociation processes. Further topics involve roaming paths and triple fragmentation in photodissociation probed by imaging techniques, chirality effects in collisions and deviations from Arrhenius behavior in the temperature dependence of chemical reactions. © the Partner Organisations 2014.

By employing time-resolved Fourier transform infrared emission spectroscopy, the fragments HCl (v=1-3), HBr (v=1), and CO (v=1-3) are detected in one-photon dissociation of 2-bromopropionyl chloride (CH3CHBrCOCl) at 248 nm. Ar gas is added to induce internal conversion and to enhance the fragment yields. The time-resolved high-resolution spectra of HCl and CO were analyzed to determine the rovibrational energy deposition of 10.0A ±0.2 and 7.4A ±0.6 kcal mol-1, respectively, while the rotational energy in HBr is evaluated to be 0.9A ±0.1 kcal mol-1. The branching ratio of HCl(v>0)/HBr(v>0) is estimated to be 1:0.53. The bond selectivity of halide formation in the photolysis follows the same trend as the halogen atom elimination. The probability of HCl contribution from a hot Cl reaction with the precursor is negligible according to the measurements of HCl amount by adding an active reagent, Br2, in the system. The HCl elimination channel under Ar addition is verified to be slower by two orders of magnitude than the Cl elimination channel. With the aid of ab initio calculations, the observed fragments are dissociated from the hot ground state CH3CHBrCOCl. A two-body dissociation channel is favored leading to either HCl+CH3CBrCO or HBr+CH2CHCOCl, in which the CH 3CBrCO moiety may further undergo secondary dissociation to release CO. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Photodissociation of isobutyraldehyde (C3H7CHO) at 248 nm is investigated using time-resolved Fourier-transform infrared emission spectroscopy to demonstrate the growing importance of the roaming pathway with increasing molecular size of aliphatic aldehydes. Each acquired CO rotational distribution from v = 1 to 4 is well characterized by a single Boltzmann rotational temperature from 637 to 750 K, corresponding to an average rotational energy of 5.9 ± 0.6 kJ mol-1. The roaming signature that shows a small fraction of CO rotational energy disposal accompanied by a vibrationally hot C3H8 co-fragment is supported by theoretical prediction. The energy difference between the tight transition state (TS) and the roaming saddle point (SP) is found to be -27, 4, 15, 22, and 30 kJ mol-1 for formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, isobutyraldehyde, and 2,2-dimethyl propanal, respectively. The roaming SP is stabilized by a larger alkyl moiety. It is suggested that the roaming photodissociation rate of aldehydes increasingly exceeds those via the tight TS, resulting in the dominance of the CO + alkane products, as the size of aldehydes becomes larger. Along with formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and propionaldehyde, in this work isobutyraldehyde is further demonstrated that this aldehyde family with special functional group is the first case in the organic compound to follow predominantly a roaming dissociation pathway, as the molecular size becomes larger. © the Owner Societies 2015.

Atmospheric halogen chemistry has drawn much attention, because the halogen atom (X) playing a catalytic role may cause severe stratospheric ozone depletion. Atomic X elimination from X-containing hydrocarbons is recognized as the major primary dissociation process upon UV-light irradiation, whereas direct elimination of the X2 product has been seldom discussed or remained a controversial issue. This account is intended to review the detection of X2 primary products using cavity ring-down absorption spectroscopy in the photolysis at 248 nm of a variety of X-containing compounds, focusing on bromomethanes (CH2Br2, CF2Br2, CHBr2Cl, and CHBr3), dibromoethanes (1,1-C 2H4Br2 and 1,2-C2H 4Br2) and dibromoethylenes (1,1-C2H 2Br2 and 1,2-C2H2Br2), diiodomethane (CH2I2), thionyl chloride (SOCl 2), and sulfuryl chloride (SO2Cl2), along with a brief discussion on acyl bromides (BrCOCOBr and CH2BrCOBr). The optical spectra, quantum yields, and vibrational population distributions of the X2 fragments have been characterized, especially for Br2 and I2. With the aid of ab initio calculations of potential energies and rate constants, the detailed photodissociation mechanisms may be comprehended. Such studies are fundamentally important to gain insight into the dissociation dynamics and may also practically help to assess the halogen-related environmental variation. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.

In one-photon dissociation of gaseous acetyl chloride at 248 nm, time-resolved Fourier-transform infrared emission spectroscopy is used to detect the fragments of HCl, CO, and CH2 in the presence of Ar or O 2. The high-resolution spectra of HCl and CO are analyzed to yield the corresponding internal energy deposition of 8.9 ± 1.1 and 6.2 ± 0.9 kcal/mol. The presence of the CH2 fragment is verified by detecting the CO2 product resulting from the reaction of CH 2 and the added O2. The probability of the HCl formation via a hot Cl reaction with the precursor is examined to be negligible by performing two experiments, the CH3COCl pressure dependence and the measurement of Br2 with Cl reaction. The HCl elimination channel under the Ar addition is verified to be slowed by 2 orders of magnitude, as compared to the Cl elimination channel. The observed fragments are proposed to dissociate on the hot ground electronic state via collision-induced internal conversion. A two-body dissociation channel is favored leading to HCl and CH2CO, followed by secondary dissociation. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

Molecular orientation techniques are becoming available in the study of elementary chemical processes, in order to highlight those structural and dynamical properties that would be concealed by random rotational motions. Recently successful orientation was achieved for asymmetric-top and chiral molecules of much larger complexity than hitherto. In this work, we report and discuss the correlation between the vectors' photofragment recoil velocity v, transition dipole moment μ, and permanent dipole moment d in a dissociation experiment on hexapole oriented 2-bromobutane, photoinitiated by a linearly polarized laser. The sliced ion images of the Br∗(2P1/2) and Br(2P3/2) photofragments were acquired at 234.0 and 254.1 nm, respectively, by a (2 + 1) resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization technique. A detailed analysis of the sliced ion images obtained at a tilting angle 45° of laser polarization provides information on the correlation of the three vectors, which are confined by two polar angles α and χ and one azimuthal angle φμd in the recoil frame. The sliced ion images of Br fragments eliminated individually from the enantiomers at 254.1 nm yield an asymmetric factor close to zero; for this reason the photofragment angular distributions do not show significant differences. The elimination of the Br∗ fragment at 234.0 nm is mainly correlated with a parallel transition, giving rise to a large anisotropy parameter of 1.85, and thus can be considered as a single state excitation. The resulting recoil frame angles are optimized to 163° ± 8° and 164° ± 1° for α and χ, respectively, whereas φμd is approaching 0° for the best fit. Since for the present molecule, the three vectors have an only slight spatial arrangement, the photofragment angular distributions of the two enantiomers do not show appreciable differences. Theoretical and computational simulations provide us the basis to state that oriented enantiomers can be discriminated on-the-fly in photodissociation processes even initiated by non-circularly polarized light, provided that the three vectors encountered above have specific three-dimensional arrangements. The fact that Br fragment elimination involves a multi-potential dissociation carries uncertainties in theoretical estimates of the vector direction. Therefore, this work represents a preliminary but significant step on the road to chiral discrimination on-the-fly, which is shown to be best propitiated in molecules where vectors are far from having degenerate mutual angular directions. © 2019 the Owner Societies.

Polynorbornenes appended with anthracene and chiral alanine linkers are synthesized. Hydrogen bonding between the adjacent bisamidic linkers brings adjacent anthracene chromophores in a more suitable orientation for exciton coupling and renders one-handed helical structures for these polymers. Excimer formation is observed from their emission spectra. Monoamidic linkers provide only one hydrogen bond, which would be less robust and result in much lower circular dichroic response. Hydrogen bonding between the adjacent chiral alanine linkers brings appended anthracene in a more suitable orientation for exciton coupling and excimer formation, rendering one-handed helical structures in polynorbornenes. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

By using time-resolved Fourier-transform infrared emission spectroscopy, the HCO fragment dissociated from acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) at 248 nm is found to partially decompose to H and CO. The fragment yields are enhanced by the Ar addition that facilitates the collision-induced internal conversion. The channels to CH2CO + H2 and CH3CO + H are not detected significantly. The rotational population distribution of CO, after removing the Ar collision effect, shows a bimodal feature comprising both low- and high-rotational (J) components, sharing a fraction of 19% and 81%, respectively, for the vibrational state v = 1. The low-J component is ascribed to both roaming pathway and triple fragmentation. They are determined to have a branching ratio of <0.13 and >0.06, respectively, relative to the whole v = 1 population. The CO roaming is accompanied by a highly vibrational population of CH4 that yields a vibrational bimodality. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

An alternative to the transition state (TS) pathway, the roaming route, which bypasses the minimum energy path but produces the same molecular products, was recently found in photodissociation dynamics. This account describes signatures of roaming in photodissociation of the carbonyl compounds, specifically methyl formate and aliphatic aldehydes. Methyl formate was promoted to the excited state, followed by internal conversion via a conical intersection. Then, the energetic precursor dissociated to fragments which proceeded along either TS or roaming path. In contrast to the lack of a roaming saddle point found in methyl formate, the structure of the roaming saddle point for each of a series of aliphatic aldehydes comprises two moieties that are weakly bound at a distance. As its size increases, the energy difference between the TS barrier and the roaming saddle point increases and the roaming pathway becomes increasingly dominant. Experimentally, the rotational-level dependence of the roaming route was measured with ion imaging, while the vibrational-state dependence was observed with time-resolved Fourier-transform infrared emission spectroscopy. The roaming signature was verified theoretically by quasi-classical trajectory (QCT) calculations. As an alternative to the QCT method, a multi-center impulsive model was developed to simulate the roaming scalar and vector properties. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Rotational energy transfer (RET) by Ar collisions within the v′ = 0 level of the SH A2Σ+ state is probed using a laser-induced dispersed fluorescence technique, following photodissociation of H2S at 248 nm. The Ar pressure is adjusted appropriately to allow for significant observation of the single-collision induced RET process. The spin-resolved and spin-averaged rate constants are then evaluated with the aid of a kinetic model under single-collision conditions. The theoretical counterparts are calculated using a quantum scattering method, in which a newly fitted potential energy function is based on ab initio potential energy surface reported previously. The experimental and theoretical kinetic data are essentially consistent in the trend of N and ΔN dependence. Several propensity rules are found in the RET collisions. For instance, for ΔN = 1, 2, and 3, the rate constants decrease with increasing N or ΔN. Given a fixed ΔN, the rate constants of the same initial N in the downward transition appear to be larger than those in the upward transitions. In ΔN = 0, the F2 → F1 transitions prevail over the F 1 → F2 transitions (F1 = N + 1/2, F 2 = N - 1/2), whereas in ΔN ≠ 0, the fine-structure- conserving collisions are more favored than the fine-structure-changing collisions. The principle of microscopic reversibility is also examined for both experimental and theoretical kinetic data, showing that translational energies of the RET collisions are close to thermal equilibrium at room temperature. The propensity rules may be rationalized according to this principle. © 2010 the Owner Societies.