Rotational Raman spectrum

This spectrum is called a Raman spectrum and corresponds to the vibrational or rotational changes in the molecule. The selection rules for Raman activity are different from those for i.r. activity and the two types of spectroscopy are complementary in the study of molecular structure. Modern Raman spectrometers use lasers for excitation. In the resonance Raman effect excitation at a frequency corresponding to electronic absorption causes great enhancement of the Raman spectrum. 

Figure 5.15 Rotational Raman spectrum of a diatomic or linear polyatomic molecule...

Figure 5.17 Rotational Raman spectrum of N2 (the lines marked with a cross are grating ghosts and not part of the spectrum)...

Figure 5.17 shows the rotational Raman spectrum of N2 obtained with 476.5 nm radiation from an argon ion laser. From this spectrum a very accurate value for Bq of 1.857 672 0.000 027 cm has been obtained from which a value for the bond length tq of 1.099 985 0.000 010 A results. Such accuracy is typical of high-resolution rotational Raman spectroscopy. 

The first three Stokes lines in the rotational Raman spectrum of 02 are separated by 14.4 cm, 25.8 cm and 37.4 cm from the exciting radiation. Using the rigid rotor approximation obtain a value for tq. 

Figure 6.7 Rotational transitions accompanying a vibrational transition in (a) an infrared spectrum and (b) a Raman spectrum of a diatomic molecule...

Figure 6.9 The 1-0 Stokes vibrational Raman spectrum of CO showing the 0-, Q-, and 5-branch rotational structure...

Fig. 0.3. Raman spectrum of liquid oxygen [6]. The positions of the free rotator s. /-components are shown by vertical lines and the isotropic scattering contour is presented by the dashed line.

Storer model used in this theory enables us to describe classically the spectral collapse of the Q-branch for any strength of collisions. The theory generates the canonical relation between the width of the Raman spectrum and the rate of rotational relaxation measured by NMR or acoustic methods. At medium pressures the impact theory overlaps with the non-model perturbation theory which extends the relation to the region where the binary approximation is invalid. The employment of this relation has become a routine procedure which puts in order numerous experimental data from different methods. At low densities it permits us to estimate, roughly, the strength of collisions. 

The quantum theory of spectral collapse presented in Chapter 4 aims at even lower gas densities where the Stark or Zeeman multiplets of atomic spectra as well as the rotational structure of all the branches of absorption or Raman spectra are well resolved. The evolution of basic ideas of line broadening and interference (spectral exchange) is reviewed. Adiabatic and non-adiabatic spectral broadening are described in the frame of binary non-Markovian theory and compared with the impact approximation. The conditions for spectral collapse and subsequent narrowing of the spectra are analysed for the simplest examples, which model typical situations in atomic and molecular spectroscopy. Special attention is paid to collapse of the isotropic Raman spectrum. Quantum theory, based on first principles, attempts to predict the. /-dependence of the widths of the rotational component as well as the envelope of the unresolved and then collapsed spectrum (Fig. 0.4). 

In the conclusion of the present chapter we show how comparison of NMR and Raman scattering data allows one to test formulae (3.23) and (3.24) and extract information about the relative effectiveness of dephasing and rotational relaxation. In particular, spectral broadening in nitrogen caused by dephasing is so small that it may be ignored in a relatively rarefied gas when spectrum collapse proceeds. This is just what we are going to do in the next sections devoted to the impact theory of the isotropic Raman spectrum transformation. 

Fig. 6.1. A spectral exchange scheme between components of the rotational structure of an anisotropic Raman spectrum of linear molecules. The adiabatic part of the spectrum is shadowed. For the remaining part the various spectral exchange channels are shown ( - — ) between branches (<— ) within branches.

The number of fundamental vibrational modes of a molecule is equal to the number of degrees of vibrational freedom. For a nonlinear molecule of N atoms, 3N - 6 degrees of vibrational freedom exist. Hence, 3N - 6 fundamental vibrational modes. Six degrees of freedom are subtracted from a nonlinear molecule since (1) three coordinates are required to locate the molecule in space, and (2) an additional three coordinates are required to describe the orientation of the molecule based upon the three coordinates defining the position of the molecule in space. For a linear molecule, 3N - 5 fundamental vibrational modes are possible since only two degrees of rotational freedom exist. Thus, in a total vibrational analysis of a molecule by complementary IR and Raman techniques, 31V - 6 or 3N - 5 vibrational frequencies should be observed. It must be kept in mind that the fundamental modes of vibration of a molecule are described as transitions from one vibration state (energy level) to another (n = 1 in Eq. (2), Fig. 2). Sometimes, additional vibrational frequencies are detected in an IR and/or Raman spectrum. These additional absorption bands are due to forbidden transitions that occur and are described in the section on near-IR theory. Additionally, not all vibrational bands may be observed since some fundamental vibrations may be too weak to observe or give rise to overtone and/or combination bands (discussed later in the chapter). 

Vibrational spectroscopy can help us escape from this predicament due to the exquisite sensitivity of vibrational frequencies, particularly of the OH stretch, to local molecular environments. Thus, very roughly, one can think of the infrared or Raman spectrum of liquid water as reflecting the distribution of vibrational frequencies sampled by the ensemble of molecules, which reflects the distribution of local molecular environments. This picture is oversimplified, in part as a result of the phenomenon of motional narrowing The vibrational frequencies fluctuate in time (as local molecular environments rearrange), which causes the line shape to be narrower than the distribution of frequencies [3]. Thus in principle, in addition to information about liquid structure, one can obtain information about molecular dynamics from vibrational line shapes. In practice, however, it is often hard to extract this information. Recent and important advances in ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy provide much more useful methods for probing dynamic frequency fluctuations, a process often referred to as spectral diffusion. Ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy of water has also been used to probe molecular rotation and vibrational energy relaxation. The latter process, while fundamental and important, will not be discussed in this chapter, but instead will be covered in a separate review [4],... 

The vibration-rotation gas-phase Raman spectrum of C3 O2 was obtained for the first time by Smith and Barrett using a 2-watt argon-ion laser. The results of this experiment gave new information about the bonding potential function for the central carbon bonding fundamental. 

High-resolution Raman spectroscopy of gases with different He-Ne and Ar laser lines was also performed by Weber etal. The authors determined relative scattering cross-sections for the pure rotational Raman spectrum of Oj. 

With the available high-power lasers the nonlinear response of matter to incident radiation can be studied. We will briefly discuss as examples the stimulated Raman effect, which can be used to investigate induced vibrational and rotational Raman spectra in solids, liquids or gases, and the inverse Raman effect which allows rapid analysis of a total Raman spectrum. A review of the applications of these and other nonlinear effects to Raman spectroscopy has been given by Schrotter2i4)... 

Trace (a) of Fig. 28 represents part of the pure rotational laser Raman spectrum of 02. This example is a single scan of the S3 transition J = 3 to J — 5 in the ground state. This transition is split into three components... 

The pure-rotational Raman spectrum of a polyatomic molecule provides information on the moments of inertia, hence allowing a structural determination. For a molecule to exhibit a pure-rotational Raman spectrum, the polarizability must be anisotropic that is, the polarizability ellipsoid must not be a sphere. As noted in Section 5.2, a spherical top has a spherical polarizability ellipsoid, and so gives no pure-rotational Raman spectrum. Symmetric and asymmetric tops have asymmetric polarizabilities. The structures of several nonpolar molecules (which cannot be studied by microwave spectroscopy) have been determined from their pure-rotational Raman spectra these include F2, C2H4, and C6H6. 

There are a few exceptions to the statements of the previous paragraph. The vibrational Raman spectrum of liquid H2 shows rotational fine structure for H2, the rotational levels are widely spaced and intermolecular forces are reasonably small. Certain solids when heated undergo a transition to a solid state in which molecular rotation in the crystal is possible. Solid H2 undergoes such a transition, as shown by the heat-capacity curve see Davidsoriy Section 16-9. 

Stoicheff investigated the pure rotational Raman spectrum of CS2. The first few lines could not be observed because of the width of the exciting line. The average values of the Stokes and anti-Stokes shifts for the first few observable lines (accurate to 0.02 cm-1) are Ap = 4.96, 5.87, 6.76, 7.64, and 8.50 cm-1, (a) Calculate the C=S bond length in carbon disulfide. (Assume centrifugal distortion is negligible. The rotational Raman selection rule for linear molecules in 2 electronic states is AJ = 0, 2.) (b) Is this an R0 or Re value (c) Predict the shift for the 7 = 0—>2 transition. 

Not all vibrations and rotations are infrared-active. If there is no change in dipole moment, then there is no oscillating electric field in the motion, and there is no mechanism by which absorption of electromagnetic radiation can take place. An oscillation, or vibration, about a center of symmetry, therefore, will not be observed in the infrared spectrum (absorption) but can be observed in the Raman spectrum (scattering). 

We now consider hydrogen transfer reactions between the excited impurity molecules and the neighboring host molecules in crystals. Prass et al. [1988, 1989] and Steidl et al. [1988] studied the abstraction of an hydrogen atom from fluorene by an impurity acridine molecule in its lowest triplet state. The fluorene molecule is oriented in a favorable position for the transfer (Figure 6.18). The radical pair thus formed is deactivated by the reverse transition. H atom abstraction by acridine molecules competes with the radiative deactivation (phosphorescence) of the 3T state, and the temperature dependence of transfer rate constant is inferred from the kinetic measurements in the range 33-143 K. Below 72 K, k(T) is described by Eq. (2.30) with n = 1, while at T>70K the Arrhenius law holds with the apparent activation energy of 0.33 kcal/mol (120 cm-1). The value of a corresponds to the thermal excitation of the symmetric vibration that is observed in the Raman spectrum of the host crystal. The shift in its frequency after deuteration shows that this is a libration i.e., the tunneling is enhanced by hindered molecular rotation in crystal. 

K. C. Moller and B. P. Stoicheff, Can. ]. Phys., 32, 635 (1954). High Resolution Raman Spectroscopy of Gases. IV. Rotational Raman Spectrum of Cyanogen. 

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