Product state distributions

However, with the advent of lasers, the teclmique of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) has probably become the single most popular means of detennining product-state distributions an early example is the work by Zare and co-workers on Ba + FLT (X= F, Cl, Br, I) reactions [25]. Here, a tunable laser excites an electronic transition of one of the products (the BaX product in this example), and the total fluorescence is detected as a... 

Dobbyn A J, Stumpf M, Keller H-M and Schinke R 1996 Theoretical study of the unimolecular dissociation HO2—>H+02. II. Calculation of resonant states, dissociation rates, and O2 product state distributions J. Chem. Phys. 104 8357-81... 

In highly exothermic reactions such as this, that proceed over deep wells on the potential energy surface, sorting pathways by product state distributions is unlikely to be successful because there are too many opportunities for intramolecular vibrational redistribution to reshuffle energy among the fragments. A similar conclusion is likely as the total number of atoms increases. Therefore, isotopic substitution is a well-suited method for exploration of different pathways in such systems. 

CH2O H2 + CO. In contrast to the previous three systems, this pathway competition cannot be studied by isotopic substitution because the identical atoms are found in only one product (H2). Formnately, the two contributing pathways can be separated because their product state distributions are markedly different. 

Because the pathway to H + HCO on So is barrierless (with a loose TS), whereas the pathway on Ti has an exit barrier (tight TS), the dissociation dynamics of the two pathways can be expected to differ markedly. Measuring the translational energy release and the product state distributions of the HCO fragment are therefore appropriate experimental techniques for exploring this competition. 

Because dissociation on So is barrierless, the product state distributions should be well approximated by statistical theories, especially when the excess energy is small, as in the Valachovic study. Product state distributions arising from the So pathway should be characterized by small translational energy release, but significant rovibrational excitation of HCO. This signature is demonstrated in the top panel of Fig. 17, which shows a HRTOF spectrum with... 

These experiments use the product state distribution technique to allow a qualitative characterization of the competition between multiple electronic states. In contrast to the pathway competition in the molecular channel of formaldehyde (Section V.D), where the correlated product state distributions delineate the two channels quite cleanly, it will likely more often be the case that the product state distribution method allows only qualitative separation, due to overlapping distributions. Nevertheless, such experiments provide critical insight into pathway competition. 

The H2O molecules are cooled in a supersonic expansion to a rotational temperature of 10K before photodissociation. The evidence for pathway competition is an odd-even intensity alteration in the OH product state distribution for rotational quantum numbers V = 33 45. This intensity alternation is attributed to quantum mechanical interference due to the N-dependent phase shifts that arise as the population passes through the two different conical intersections. 

Figure 12. Potential energy contour plots for He + I Cl(B,v = 3) and the corresponding probability densities for the n = 0, 2, and 4 intermolecular vibrational levels, (a), (c), and (e) plotted as a function of intermolecular angle, 0 and distance, R. Modified with permission from Ref. 40. The I Cl(B,v = 2/) rotational product state distributions measured following excitation to n = 0, 2, and 4 within the He + I Cl(B,v = 3) potential are plotted as black squares in (b), (d), and (f), respectively. The populations are normalized so that their sum is unity. The l Cl(B,v = 2/) rotational product state distributions calculated by Gray and Wozny [101] for the vibrational predissociation of He I Cl(B,v = 3,n = 0,/ = 0) complexes are shown as open circles in panel (b). Modified with permission from Ref. [51].

Gray and Wozny [101, 102] later disclosed the role of quantum interference in the vibrational predissociation of He Cl2(B, v, n = 0) and Ne Cl2(B, v, = 0) using three-dimensional wave packet calculations. Their results revealed that the high / tail for the VP product distribution of Ne Cl2(B, v ) was consistent with the final-state interactions during predissociation of the complex, while the node at in the He Cl2(B, v )Av = — 1 rotational distribution could only be accounted for through interference effects. They also implemented this model in calculations of the VP from the T-shaped He I C1(B, v = 3, n = 0) intermolecular level forming He+ I C1(B, v = 2) products [101]. The calculated I C1(B, v = 2,/) product state distribution remarkably resembles the distribution obtained by our group, open circles in Fig. 12(b). 

The probability distribution for the n = 2 intermolecular level. Fig. 12c, indicates that this state resembles a bending level of the T-shaped complex with two nodes in the angular coordinate and maximum probability near the linear He I—Cl and He Cl—I ends of the molecule [40]. The measured I C1(B, v = 2f) rotational product state distribution observed following preparation of the He I C1(B, v = 3, m = 2, / = 1) state is plotted in Fig. 12d. The distribution is distinctly bimodal and extends out to the rotational state, / = 21,... 

D. Partial Cross Sections, Product State Distributions, and Differential Cross Sections III. Reactive Scattering Theory... 

G. F Metha, A. C. Terentis, and S. H. Kable. Near threshold photochemistry of propanal. Barrier height, transition state structure, and product state distributions for the HCO channel, J. Phys. Chem. A, 106 5817-5827 (2002). 

VII. HO2 Classical Chaos Reflected in Dissociation Rates and Product-State Distributions... 

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