Condensed phase spectroscopy

A typical CARS device for condensed phase spectroscopy which has been developed at the University of Wurzburg (Materny et ah, 1992b) is shown in Fig. 3.6-8. Because it contains two tunable (uji,us) laser sources it is also suitable to perform resonance CARS... 

In recent years, a new approach to condensed-phase spectroscopy has emerged, that focuses on the spectral properties of a single molecule (SM) embedded in a condensed phase [14], Thanks to experimental advances made in optics and microscopy [5], it is now possible to perform single molecule spectroscopy (SMS) in many different systems. Motivations for SMS arise from a fundamental point of view (e.g., the investigation of the field-matter interaction at the level of a SM and the verification of statistical assumptions made in ensemble spectroscopy) and from the possibility of applications (e.g., the use of SMS as a probe for large biomolecules for which a SM is attached as a fluorescent marker). 

In contrast, the condensed phase spectroscopy is well developed. Very recent photoexcitation experiments have revealed the absorption... 

In principle, the theory of nonlinear spectroscopy with femtosecond laser pulses is well developed. A comprehensive and up-to-date exposition of nonlinear optical spectroscopy in the femtosecond time domain is provided by the monograph of Mukamel. ° For additional reviews, see Refs. 7 and 11-14. While many theoretical papers have dealt with the analysis or prediction of femtosecond time-resolved spectra, very few of these studies have explicitly addressed the dynamics associated with conical intersections. In the majority of theoretical studies, the description of the chemical dynamics is based on rather simple models of the system that couples to the laser fields, usually a few-level system or a set of harmonic oscillators. In the case of condensed-phase spectroscopy, dissipation is additionally introduced by coupling the system to a thermal bath, either at a phenomenological level or in a more microscopic maimer via reduced density-matrix theory. 

Let us now introduce the standard Born-Oppenheimer separation by which molecular states are written as a product of an electronic wavefunction depending parametrically on the nuclear coordinates J/j (Q,q) and a purely vibrational wave-function X/v(Q)- This is also done in Chapter 8, but we repeat this treatment with the aim of highlighting its consequences on the system TDSE. Once more we remind the reader that, since the focus here is on condensed-phase spectroscopy, we do not consider the role of molecular rotations, whose contributions to the absorption spectra can be detected only in high-resolution experiments. It is worthwhile to note, however, that they could be included in the time-dependent approach studying the propagation of suitable rovibronic wavepackets. 

This section discusses how spectroscopy, molecular beam scattering, pressure virial coeflScients, measurements on transport phenomena and even condensed phase data can help detemiine a potential energy surface. 

Applications of ultrafast spectroscopy to chemical dynamics, especially in the condensed phase and in proteins. 

The ability to make optical measurements on individual molecules and submicroscopic aggregates, one at a time, is a valuable new tool in several areas of molecular science. By eliminating inlromogeneous broadening it allows pure spectroscopy to be perfonned witli unprecedented precision in certain condensed phase systems. As an analytical method it pennits tire rapid detection of certain analytes witli unmatched sensitivity. Finally, it is revolutionizing our... 

Most informative in this context is vibrational spectroscopy since the number of signals observed depends on the molecular size as well as on the symmetry of the molecule and, if it is part of a condensed phase, of its environment. In particular, Raman spectroscopy has contributed much to the elucidation of the various allotropes of elemental sulfur and to the analysis of complex mixtures such as hquid and gaseous sulfur. 

Luminescence lifetime spectroscopy. In addition to the nanosecond lifetime measurements that are now rather routine, lifetime measurements on a femtosecond time scale are being attained with the intensity correlation method (124), which is an indirect technique for investigating the dynamics of excited states in the time frame of the laser pulse itself. The sample is excited with two laser pulse trains of equal amplitude and frequencies nl and n2 and the time-integrated luminescence at the difference frequency (nl - n2 ) is measured as a function of the relative pulse delay. Hochstrasser (125) has measured inertial motions of rotating molecules in condensed phases on time scales shorter than the collision time, allowing insight into relaxation processes following molecular collisions. 

The Volta potential is defined as the difference between the electrostatic outer potentials of two condensed phases in equilibrium. The measurement of this and related quantities is performed using a system of voltaic cells. This technique, which in some applications is called the surface potential method, is one of the oldest but still frequently used experimental methods for studying phenomena at electrified solid and hquid surfaces and interfaces. The difficulty with the method, which in fact is common to most electrochemical methods, is lack of molecular specificity. However, combined with modem surface-sensitive methods such as spectroscopy, it can provide important physicochemical information. Even without such complementary molecular information, the voltaic cell method is still the source of much basic electrochemical data. 

Detection in SFC can be achieved in the condensed phase using optical detectors similar to those used in liquid chromatography or in the gas phase using detectors similar to those used in gas chromatography. Spectroscopic detectors, such as mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, are relatively easily interfaced to SFC compared to the problems observed with liquid mobile phases (see Chapter 9). The range of available detectors for SFC is considered one of its strengths. 

As mentioned previously, this can be attributed in part to the lack of structure-sensitive techniques that can operate in the presence of a condensed phase. Ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) surface spectroscopic techniques such as low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and others have been applied to the study of electrochemical interfaces, and a wealth of information has emerged from these ex situ studies on well-defined electrode surfaces.15"17 However, the fact that these techniques require the use of UHV precludes their use for in situ studies of the electrode/solution interface. In addition, transfer of the electrode from the electrolytic medium into UHV introduces the very serious question of whether the nature of the surface examined ex situ has the same structure as the surface in contact with the electrolyte and under potential control. Furthermore, any information on the solution side of the interface is, of necessity, lost. 

Abstract This chapter reviews the theoretical background for continuum models of solvation, recent advances in their implementation, and illustrative examples of their use. Continuum models are the most efficient way to include condensed-phase effects into quantum mechanical calculations, and this is typically accomplished by the using self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) approach for the electrostatic component. This approach does not automatically include the non-electrostatic component of solvation, and we review various approaches for including that aspect. The performance of various models is compared for a number of applications, with emphasis on heterocyclic tautomeric equilibria because they have been the subject of the widest variety of studies. For nonequilibrium applications, e.g., dynamics and spectroscopy, one must consider the various time scales of the solvation process and the dynamical process under consideration, and the final section of the review discusses these issues. 

In chapter 1, Profs. Cramer and Truhlar provide an overview of the current status of continuum models of solvation. They examine available continuum models and computational techniques implementing such models for both electrostatic and non-electrostatic components of the free energy of solvation. They then consider a number of case studies with particular focus on the prediction of heterocyclic tautomeric equilibria. In the discussion of the latter they focus attention on the subtleties of actual chemical systems and some of the danger in applying continuum models uncritically. They hope the reader will emerge with a balanced appreciation of the power and limitations of these methods. In the last section they offer a brief overview of methods to extend continuum solvation modeling to account for dynamic effects in spectroscopy and kinetics. Their conclusion is that there has been tremendous progress in the development and practical implementation of useful continuum models in the last five years. These techniques are now poised to allow quantum chemistry to have the same revolutionary impact on condensed-phase chemistry as the last 25 years have witnessed for gas-phase chemistry. 

In condensed phases, the noncoincidence effect between IR and Raman spectra provides insights into the intermolecular coupling [170, 171]. The combination of IR and Raman spectroscopy is also useful in the study of alcohol clusters in the supercritical state [25]. 

Dendrimers have precise compositional and constitutional aspects, but they can exhibit many possible conformations. Thus, they lack long-range order in the condensed phase, which makes it inappropriate to characterize the molecular-level structure of dendrimers by X-ray diffraction analysis. However, there have been many studies performed using indirect spectroscopic methods to characterize dendrimer structures, such as studies using photophysical and photochemical probes by UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy, as well as studies using spin probes by EPR spectroscopy. 

Although this book is devoted to molecular fluorescence in condensed phases, it is worth mentioning the relevance of fluorescence spectroscopy in supersonic jets (Ito et al., 1988). A gas expanded through an orifice from a high-pressure region into a vacuum is cooled by the well-known Joule-Thomson effect. During expansion, collisions between the gas molecules lead to a dramatic decrease in their translational velocities. Translational temperatures of 1 K or less can be attained in this way. The supersonic jet technique is an alternative low-temperature approach to the solid-phase methods described in Section 3.5.2 all of them have a common aim of improving the spectral resolution. 

NMR spectroscopy has, in the last 20 years, become one of the most important analytical tools in the search for RsE ions in the condensed phases. With only the... 

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