Decay rate exponential behaviour

A situation that arises from the intramolecular dynamics of A and completely distinct from apparent non-RRKM behaviour is intrinsic non-RRKM behaviour [9], By this, it is meant that A has a non-random P(t) even if the internal vibrational states of A are prepared randomly. This situation arises when transitions between individual molecular vibrational/rotational states are slower than transitions leading to products. As a result, the vibrational states do not have equal dissociation probabilities. In tenns of classical phase space dynamics, slow transitions between the states occur when the reactant phase space is metrically decomposable [13,14] on the timescale of the imimolecular reaction and there is at least one bottleneck [9] in the molecular phase space other than the one defining the transition state. An intrinsic non-RRKM molecule decays non-exponentially with a time-dependent unimolecular rate constant or exponentially with a rate constant different from that of RRKM theory. 

Hashimoto et al. [56-58] followed the luminescence decay of Ru(bpy)32+ adsorbed onto Ti02 particles and found the luminescence to decay rapidly but in a complex manner. The luminescence behaviour was different in vacuo and upon introduction of water vapour. The non-exponential decay was fitted using a sum of four exponentials. The decay rates on Ti02 are considered to be determined mainly by electron transfer rates from excited Ru(bpy)32" to Ti02 by comparison of the decay curve on Ti02 to that on Si02 or porous vycor glass (PVG). 

Fig. 2.4. Computed concentration.histories for autocatalytic model with rate constants given exactly as in Table 2.1 (a) exponential decay of precursor (b) intermediate concentrations a(t) and 6(r), showing initial pseudo-stationary-state behaviour but subsequent development of an oscillatory period of finite duration, 1752 s < t < 3940 s.

At this point it is worthwhile to review the possible failures of RRKM theory [9, 14] within a classical framework. First, the dynamics in some regions of phase space may not be ergodic. In this instance, which has been termed intrinsic non-RRKM behaviour [38], the use of the statistical distribution in Eq. (2.2) is inappropriate. In the extreme case of two disconnected regions of space, with one region nonreactive, the lifetime distribution is still random with an exponential decay of population to a non-zero value. However, the averaging of the flux must then be restricted to the reactive part of the phase space, and the rate coefficient is then increased by a factor equal to the reciprocal of the proportion of the phase space that is reactive. 

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