Photodissociation channels for pentafluorochlorobenzene excited at 193 nm in molecular beams

Ultrafast dynamics of o-bromofluorobenzene studied by time-resolved photoelectron imaging

Photodissociation dynamics and rotational wave packet coherences of o-bromofluorobenzene are studied by femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging [figure: see text]. The decay of different photoelectron rings shows the population decay of states from which the lifetimes of different states are determined. The variation of photoelectron angular distributions reflects the evolution of rotational coherences.Photodissociation dynamics and rotational wave packet coherences of o-bromofluorobenzene are studied by femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron imaging (TR-PEI) spectroscopy combined with the (1+2') resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI). Photoelectron kinetic energy and angular distributions indicate ionization dynamics from some Rydberg states at the (1+1') photon energy. The lifetimes of the S(1) (A') and T(2) (A') states are determined from the decay of the photoelectron signals to be 38 ps and 27 ps. The electron population decay of the two states is attributed to predissociation and tunneling dissociation. The variation of time-dependent anisotropy parameters in the first 5 ps shows the rotational wave coherences of molecule.

Photodissociation of dibromobenzenes at 266 nm by the velocity imaging technique

A velocity imaging technique combined with (2+1) resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) is used to detect the primary Br((2)P(3/2)) fragment in the photodissociation of o-, m-, and p-dibromobenzene at 266 nm. The obtained translational energy distributions suggest that the Br fragments are produced via two dissociation channels. For o- and m-dibromobenzene, the slow channel that yields an anisotropy parameter close to zero is proposed to stem from excitation of the lowest excited singlet (pi,pi*) state followed by predissociation along a repulsive triplet (n,sigma*) state localized on the C-Br bond. The fast channel that gives rise to an anisotropy parameter of 0.53-0.73 is attributed to a bound triplet state with smaller dissociation barrier. For p-dibromobenzene, the dissociation rates are reversed, because the barrier for the bound triplet state becomes higher than the singlet-triplet crossing energy. The fractions of translational energy release are determined to be 6-8 and 29-40 % for the slow and fast channels, respectively; the quantum yields are 0.2 and 0.8, and are insensitive to the position of the substituent. The Br fragmentation from bromobenzene and bromofluorobenzenes at the same photolyzing wavelength is also compared to understand the effect of the number of halogen atoms on the phenyl ring.

Experimental and theoretical study of the photodissociation of bromo-3-fluorobenzene

The UV photodissociation of bromo-3-fluorobenzene under collisionless conditions has been studied as a function of the excitation wavelength between 255 and 265 nm. The experiments were performed using ultrafast pump-probe laser spectroscopy. To aid in the interpretation of the results, it was necessary to extend the theoretical framework substantially compared to previous studies, to also include quantum dynamical simulations employing a two-dimensional nuclear Hamiltonian. The nonadiabatic potential energy surfaces (PES) were parameterized against high-level MS-CASTP2 quantum chemical calculations, using both the C-Br distance and the out-of-plane bending of the bromine as nuclear parameters. We show that the wavelength dependence of the photodissociation via the S0-->1pipi*-->1pisigma* channel, accessible with a approximately 260 nm pulse, is captured in this model. We thereby present the first correlation between experiments and theory within the quantitative regime.

Photochemistry of Bromofluorobenzenes

The photochemistry of low lying excited states of six different fluorinated bromobenzenes has been investigated by means of femtosecond laser spectroscopy and high level ab initio CASSCF/CASPT2 quantum chemical calculations. The objective of the work was to investigate how and to what extent light substituents, position on the benzene ring and number, would influence the dissociation mechanism of bromobenzene. In general, the actual position of a fluorine atom affects the dissociation rate to a less extent than the number of fluorine atoms. A clear connection between a lowering of a repulsive pisigma relative to a bound pipi state and the number of fluorine substituents exists, and the previously suggested model of coupling between dissociation rate and relative location of bound and repulsive state still holds for these molecules. A more elaborate examination of the electronic structure of the excited states in bromobenzenes than previously reported is presented.