Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Ultrafast studies of photodissociation in solution: Dissociation, recombination and relaxation

Thesis/Dissertation ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/93982· OSTI ID:93982
 [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Photodissociation of M(CO)6 (M=Cr,Mo,W) and the formation of solvated M(CO)5•S complex was studied in cyclohexane; rate-limiting step is vibrational energy relaxation from the new bond to the solvent. For both M=Cr and Mo, the primary relaxation occurs in 18 ps; for Cr, there is an additional vibrational relaxation (150 ps time scale) of a CO group poorly coupled to other modes. Relaxation of M=W occurs in 42 ps; several possible mechanisms for the longer cooling are discussed. Vibrational relaxation is also investigated for I2- and IBr- in nonpolar and slightly polar solvents. Attempts were made to discover the mechanism for the fast energy transfer in nonpolar solvent. The longer time scale dynamics of I3- and IBr2- were also studied; both formed a metastable complex following photodissociation and 90-95% return to ground state in 100 ps, implying a barrier to recombination of 4.3 kcal/mol and a barrier to escape of ≥5.5 kcal/mol. The more complex photochemistry of M3(CO)12 (M=Fe,Ru) is also investigated, using visible and ultraviolet radiations, dissociation, geminate recombination, vibrational relaxation, and bridging structures and their reactions were studied. Attempts were made to extend ultrafast spectroscopy into the mid-infrared, but signal-to-noise was poor.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
93982
Report Number(s):
LBL--37349; ON: DE95016418
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English