Potential energy, photochemical reactions

A kinetic scheme and a potential energy curve picture ia the ground state and the first excited state have been developed to explain photochemical trans—cis isomerization (80). Further iavestigations have concluded that the activation energy of photoisomerization amounts to about 20 kj / mol (4.8 kcal/mol) or less, and the potential barrier of the reaction back to the most stable trans-isomer is about 50—60 kJ/mol (3). 

Fig. 13.11. A schematic drawing of the potential energy surfaces for the photochemical reactions of stilbene. Approximate branching ratios and quantum yields for the important processes are indicated. In this figure, the ground- and excited-state barrier heights are drawn to scale representing the best available values, as are the relative energies of the ground states of Z- and E -stilbene 4a,4b-dihydrophenanthrene (DHP). [Reproduced from R. J. Sension, S. T. Repinec, A. Z. Szarka, and R. M. Hochstrasser, J. Chem. Phys. 98 6291 (1993) by permission of the American Institute of Physics.]...

Research Opportunities. The presence of a long-lived fluorescing state following either 532 nm or 1064 nm excitation of PuF6(g) provides a valuable opportunity to study the extent to which electronic energy in a 5f electron state is available in photochemical and energy transfer reactions. Such gas phase bimolecular reactions would occur in a weak interaction limit governed by van der Waals forces. Seen from the perspective of potential photochemical separations in fluoride volatility... 

Fig. 22 a and b. Schematic representation of the potential energy curves for a M +. L ion pair, (a) the excited pair M. L returns nonradiatively to the ground state. L. (b) in competition with the process in (a) a photochemical reaction (P products) is possible (modified from Ref. [1])... 

Conical intersections are involved in other types of chemistry in addition to photochemistry. Photochemical reactions are nonadiabatic because they involve at least two potential energy surfaces, and decay from the excited state to the ground state takes place as shown, for example, in Figure 9.2a. However, there are also other types of nonadiabatic chemistry, which start on the ground state, followed by an ex-cnrsion npward onto the excited state (Fig. 9.2b). Electron transfer problems belong to this class of nonadiabatic chemistry, and we have documented conical intersection... 

Since all photochemical reactions require the absorption of a photon, the result is that the reactant molecule is raised to a higher energy level. The outcome of this process depends on the nature of the upper and lower electronic states of the molecule. Four types of absorption behaviour are possible and we will first illustrate these by referring to Morse curves for the simple, diatomic, molecules. Although the potential energy of a complex molecule as a function of its molecular geometry is not a simple two-dimensional curve but a complex multidimensional surface, the conclusions arrived at by the use of Morse curves are instructive. 

As a last example of a molecular system exhibiting nonadiabatic dynamics caused by a conical intersection, we consider a model that recently has been proposed by Seidner and Domcke to describe ultrafast cis-trans isomerization processes in unsaturated hydrocarbons [172]. Photochemical reactions of this type are known to involve large-amplitode motion on coupled potential-energy surfaces [169], thus representing another stringent test for a mixed quantum-classical description that is complementary to Models 1 and II. A number of theoretical investigations, including quantum wave-packet studies [163, 164, 172], time-resolved pump-probe spectra [164, 181], and various mixed... 

A thermal oxidation of 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene, 16, occurs in NaY when the temperature of the oxygen-loaded zeolite in raised above — 20°C [35], Similar thermally initiated oxidations were not observed for the less electron rich tram-or cix-2-butene. Remarkably, pinacolone was conclusively identified as one of the products of the reaction of 16, This ketone is not a product of the photochemical Frei oxidation (vide supra) and underscores the very different character of these two reactions and the complexity of the oxygen/16 potential energy surface, A rationale for the different behavior could lie in the different electronic states of the reactive oxygen-CT complex in the thermal and photochemical reactions. Irradiation could produce an excited triplet-state CT complex ( [16 O2] ) and/ or ion pair ( [16 02 ] ) with different accessible reaction channels than those available to a vibrationally excited ground-state triplet complex ( [16 "02]) and/... 

Figure 7.1 Classification of photochemical reactions according to the nature of potential energy surfaces.

To understand the fundamental photochemical processes in biologically relevant molecular systems, prototype molecules like phenol or indole - the chromophores of the amino acids tyrosine respective trypthophan - embedded in clusters of ammonia or water molecules are an important object of research. Numerous studies have been performed concerning the dynamics of photoinduced processes in phenol-ammonia or phenol-water clusters (see e. g. [1,2]). As a main result a hydrogen transfer reaction has been clearly indicated in phenol(NH3)n clusters [2], whereas for phenol(H20)n complexes no signature for such a reaction has been found. According to a general theoretical model [3] a similar behavior is expected for the indole molecule surrounded by ammonia or water clusters. As the primary step an internal conversion from the initially excited nn state to a dark 7ta state is predicted which may be followed by the H-transfer process on the 7ia potential energy surface. 

Generally our intention is to enhance the efficiency of a photochemical reaction and afterwards to translate the obtained optimal pulse texture into processes induced in the molecule. Therefore it is adequate to begin with well-known systems with simple potential energy surfaces, which will allow interpreting the results intuitively. NaK fulfills this condition as a model system very well. Additionally it can be ionized with three photons originating from fs oscillators. 

Fig. 1. Schematic potential energy diagram for a photochemical reaction.

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