Absorption spectra photodissociation

From the relationship between the photo-excitation and absorption spectrum, photodissociation quantum yields are in general unity when a molecule is excited to the repulsive potential curve as shown in Fig. 2.1. On the other hand, when an absorption spectrum has a band stmcture and a molecule is excited to a bound state as shown in Fig. 2.2, photodissociation quantum yields are in general 0 < cp < 1 and the value has to be determined experimentally. 

The mechanism of the FOIST based selective control of IBr photodissociation has been further probed by the use of and V iii the TDWP calculation of IBr absorption spectrum (Fig. 5) and branching ratio (Fig. 6). 

The V (OCO) ion has a structured electronic photodissociation spectrum, which allows us to measure its vibrational spectrum using vibrationally mediated photodissociation (VMP). This technique requires that the absorption spectrum (or, in our case, the photodissociation spectrum) of vibrationally excited molecules differ from that of vibrationally unexcited molecules. The photodissociation spectrum of V (OCO) has an extended progression in the V OCO stretch, indicating that the ground and excited electronic states have different equilibrium V "—OCO bond lengths. Thus, the OCO antisymmetric stretch frequency Vj should be different in the two states, and the... 

The overall OD vibrational distribution from the HOD photodissociation resembles that from the D2O photodissociation. Similarly, the OH vibrational distribution from the HOD photodissociation is similar to that from the H2O photodissociation. There are, however, notable differences for the OD products from HOD and D2O, similarly for the OH products from HOD and H2O. It is also clear that rotational temperatures are all quite cold for all OH (OD) products. From the above experimental results, the branching ratio of the H and D product channels from the HOD photodissociation can be estimated, since the mixed sample of H2O and D2O with 1 1 ratio can quickly reach equilibrium with the exact ratios of H2O, HOD and D2O known to be 1 2 1. Because the absorption spectrum of H2O at 157nm is a broadband transition, we can reasonably assume that the absorption cross-sections are the same for the three water isotopomer molecules. It is also quite obvious that the quantum yield of these molecules at 157 nm excitation should be unity since the A1B surface is purely repulsive and is not coupled to any other electronic surfaces. From the above measurement of the H-atom products from the mixed sample, the ratio of the H-atom products from HOD and H2O is determined to be 1.27. If we assume the quantum yield for H2O at 157 is unity, the quantum yield for the H production should be 0.64 (i.e. 1.27 divided by 2) since the HOD concentration is twice that of H2O in the mixed sample. Similarly, from the above measurement of the D-atom product from the mixed sample, we can actually determine the ratio of the D-atom products from HOD and D2O to be 0.52. Using the same assumption that the quantum yield of the D2O photodissociation at 157 nm is unity, the quantum yield of the D-atom production from the HOD photodissociation at 157 nm is determined to be 0.26. Therefore the total quantum yield for the H and D products from HOD is 0.64 + 0.26 = 0.90. This is a little bit smaller ( 10%) than 1 since the total quantum yield of the H and D productions from the HOD photodissociation should be unity because no other dissociation channel is present for the HOD photodissociation other than the H and D atom elimination processes. There are a couple of sources of error, however, in this estimation (a) the assumption that the absorption cross-sections of all three water isotopomers at 157 nm are exactly the same, and (b) the accuracy of the volume mixture in the... 

The photodissociation of aromatic molecules does not always take place at the weakest bond. It has been reported that in a chlorobenzene, substituted with an aliphatic chain which holds a far-away Br atom, dissociation occurs at the aromatic C-Cl bond rather than at the much weaker aliphatic C-Br bond (Figure 4.30). This is not easily understood on the basis of a simple picture of the crossing to a dissociative state, and it is probable that the reaction takes place in the tt-tt Si excited state which is localized on the aromatic system. There are indeed cases in which the dissociation is so fast (< 10-12 s) that it competes efficiently with internal conversion. 1-Chloromethyl-Np provides a clear example of this behaviour, its fluorescence quantum yield being much smaller when excitation populates S2 than when it reaches Figure 4.31 shows a comparison of the fluorescence excitation spectrum and the absorption spectrum of this compound. This is one of the few well-documented examples of an upper excited state reaction of an organic molecule which has a normal pattern of energy levels (e.g. unlike azulene or thioketones). This unusual behaviour is related of course to the extremely fast dissociation, within a single vibration very probably. We must now... 

Water absorbs only below about 185 nm (2,3). The first absorption spectrum is continuous (145-185 nm) corresponding to the transition A -B - X -A. Photodissociation in this region has been studied in detail by Welge and Stuhl (21) and recently by Andresen et al. (22-25). The main dissociation process (99%) at 157 nm (F2 excimer laser) is... 

The same authors were able to measure the high-resolution absorption spectrum of NCNO by detecting the two-photon photodissociation product rotationally hot CN radicals as a function of wavelength. This method allowed them to assign the constants for the ground and excited states. 

The question arises how does one distinguish experimentally between these two types of photodissociation This question can be answered from consideration of the absorption spectrum. The predissociative state is bound, and, therefore, is characterized by a set of discrete levels. The indirect channel implies the appearance of resonant structure in the photodissociation cross section as a function of the frequency of the incident radiation. Hence, discrete structure in the absorption spectrum indicates the indirect nature of the photodissociation. For example, analysis of the absorption spectrum of C2N2 leads to the conclusion that the process C2N2 (C- -IIu)+ hv -+ CNCX rtj +CN(A II) at V = 164 nm is an indirect photodissociation process (8). 

Photodissociation combines aspects of both molecular spectroscopy and molecular scattering. The spectroscopist is essentially interested in the first step of Equation (1.1), i.e., the absorption spectrum. In the past six decades or so methods of ever increasing sophistication have been developed in order to infer molecular geometries from structures in the absorption or emission spectrum (Herzberg 1967), whereas the fate of the fragments, i.e., the final state distribution is of less relevance in spectroscopy. The decay of the excited complex is considered only inasfar as the widths of the individual absorption lines reflect the finite lifetime in the excited state and therefore the decay rate of the excited molecule. 

In this section we summarize briefly the various cross sections which can be measured in a photodissociation experiment, starting with the least resolved quantity, the absorption spectrum, up to the most detailed ones, final state resolved cross sections following the dissociation of a particular vibrational-rotational state of the parent molecule. We illustrate the hierarchy of possible measurements by an important example, the photo dissociation of H2O sketched in Figure 1.5.t For reviews of modern experimental methods see Leone (1982) and Ashfold and Baggott (1987), for example. 

In the time-independent approach one has to calculate all partial cross sections before the total cross section can be evaluated. The partial photodissociation cross sections contain all the desired information and the total cross section can be considered as a less interesting by-product. In the time-dependent approach, on the other hand, one usually first calculates the absorption spectrum by means of the Fourier transformation of the autocorrelation function. The final state distributions for any energy are, in principle, contained in the wavepacket and can be extracted if desired. The time-independent theory favors the state-resolved partial cross sections whereas the time-dependent theory emphasizes the spectrum, i.e., the total absorption cross section. If the spectrum is the main observable, the time-dependent technique is certainly the method of choice. 

Fig. 7.1. Schematic illustration of indirect photodissociation for a one-dimensional system. The two dashed potential curves represent so-called diabatic potentials which are allowed to cross. The solid line represents the lower member of a pair of adiabatic potential curves which on the contrary are prohibited to cross. The other adiabatic potential, which would be purely binding, is not shown here. More will be said about the diabatic and the adiabatic representations of electronic states in Chapter 15. The right-hand side shows the corresponding absorption spectrum with the shaded bars indicating the resonance states embedded in the continuum. The lighter the shading the broader the resonance and the shorter its lifetime.

Fig. 7.14. Photofragment yield spectra for the photodissociation of C1NO through the T electronic state. The lower part depicts the total absorption spectrum crt<)t(A) measured at room temperature. The three separate spectra in the upper part correspond to the (unnormalized) partial photodissociation cross sections cr(, n,j) for producing NO in a particular vibrational state n as indicated. The rotational state varies between 1.5 and 4.5 in these three cases. The additional spectrum in the lower part is the n = 0 cross section originating from excitation in the So —> Si electronic band. Recall that the sum of all partial cross sections yields the total spectrum. Adapted from Qian, Ogai, Iwata, and Reisler (1990).

Indirect photodissociation involves two more or less separate steps the absorption of the photon and the fragmentation of the excited complex. Resonances, which mirror the quasi-bound states of the intermediate complex in the upper electronic state, are the main features. They have an inherently quantum mechanical origin. If we consider — in very general terms — the inner region, before the fragments have obtained their identities, as the transition state, then the resolution of resonance structures in the absorption spectrum manifests transition state spectroscopy in the original sense of the word (Foth, Polanyi, and Telle 1982 Brooks 1988). 

The transition from direct to indirect photodissociation proceeds continuously (see Figure 7.21) and therefore there are examples which simultaneously show characteristics of direct as well as indirect processes the main part of the wavepacket (or the majority of trajectories, if we think in terms of classical mechanics) dissociates rapidly while only a minor portion returns to its origin. The autocorrelation function exhibits the main peak at t = 0 and, in addition, one or two recurrences with comparatively small amplitudes. The corresponding absorption spectrum consists of a broad background with superimposed undulations, so-called diffuse structures. The broad background indicates direct dissociation whereas the structures reflect some kind of short-time trapping. 

---