UV Photodissociation of Halothane in a Focused Molecular Beam: Space-Speed Slice Imaging of Competitive Bond Breaking into Spin-Orbit-Selected Chlorine and Bromine Atoms

Orientation of Chiral Molecules by External Electric Fields: Focus on Photodissociation Dynamics

Molecular orientation is a fundamental requirement to study and control photoinitiated reactions. Experimental setups that make use of hexapolar electric filters combined with slice-ion imaging detectors were employed in these last years to investigate the photodissociation dynamics of chiral molecules. The final goal is the on-the-fly discrimination of oriented enantiomers, revealed by the different angular distributions in photofragment ion-imaging, as predicted from vector correlation studies. Here, we review experiments of photodissociation of oriented chiral molecules, with the aim of presenting limits emerging from these investigations and perspectives toward the achievement of the ultimate objective.

Dissociative Ionization and Coulomb Explosion of CHBrCl2 in Intense Near-Infrared Femtosecond Laser Fields

We experimentally demonstrate the dissociative photoionization of CHBrCl2 molecules in a femtosecond laser field by time-of-flight mass spectrum and dc-slice imaging technology. The results suggest that the low kinetic energy components are from the dissociative ionization process of single-charged molecular ions. The angular distribution of fragment Cl+ ions can be attributed to the features of dissociative state and molecular configuration, and that of Br+ ions results from the electronic wave-packet evolution and combination of the multi-dissociation processes. The high kinetic energy components are from the Coulomb explosion of multi-charged molecular ions, and the error of the C-Br distance involved in the Coulomb explosion can be explained by the movement of the effective charge center of the polyatomic molecule.

Branching ratio in photodissociation of 1-bromo-3-chlorobenzene cation

A new and convenient calculation method based on Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory assuming an extremely loose transition state (LTS) has been attempted to predict the branching ratio in photodissociation. This method enables estimation of the branching ratios without detailed structural information on the transition state which is indispensable in conventional RRKM calculations. To evaluate our simple method through comparison to the experimental results, photodissociation of 1-bromo-3-chlorobenzene cation (3BCB⁺) was chosen as a model unimolecular reaction system which has two distinct photodissociation channels in ultraviolet region: 3BCB⁺ → Br-dissociated daughter ion (ClBz⁺) + Br and 3BCB⁺ → Cl-dissociated daughter ion (BrBz⁺) + Cl. The branching ratio was monitored with decreasing the internal energy using a linear tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer, which clearly showed decreased branching ratios of 3BCB⁺ → ClBz⁺ + Br over 3BCB⁺ → BrBz⁺ + Cl in reasonable agreement with the calculation results employing the new method. Although there was some discrepancy in internal energy between the experimental and calculation results, the new calculation method is worth to be extended to other diverse systems considering its intuitive and simple nature.

A vector correlation study using a hexapole-oriented molecular beam: photodissociation dynamics of oriented isohaloethane

The photodissociation dynamics of isohaloethane (1-bromo-2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethane) at 234 nm was studied by a sliced imaging technique combined with an oriented molecular beam. The speed and angular distributions of the competitive products of spin-orbit selected Br and Cl atoms were determined by analysis of the obtained images. The anisotropic parameter, β, was found to be 2.0 ± 0.2 for the excited state of Br(²P_1/2) (Br*) and 1.2 ± 0.3 for the ground state of Br(²P_3/2) (Br). The speed distributions for both Br and Br* exhibited Gaussian-like characteristics. These results indicate that Br atoms were generated by direct formation after excitation through the nσ*(C-Br) potential energy surfaces. In contrast, the angular distributions for the Cl fragments were almost isotropic, while the speed distributions displayed Boltzmann-like characteristics. This suggests that the Cl atoms may form through long-lived parent molecules after photoexcitation. The branching ratio for Br and Cl atom formation was found to be approximately 1.2, that is, Br atom formation occurred preferentially, in contrast to the case of halothane photodissociation reported in our previous work [Che et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2020, 124, 5288]. A vector correlation study between the laser polarization axis and the direction of the dipole moment revealed a similar tendency for all photofragments, suggesting that the fragments were formed through a common excited state of isohaloethane. The vector correlation was also studied theoretically for comparison with the experimental results. The angle between the transition dipole moment in photodissociation and the permanent dipole moment was found to be 42 ± 15°. The obtained results indicate that this vector correlation approach combined with an oriented molecular beam is a powerful tool for determining the transition dipole moments in photodissociation.

Conformer Selection by Electrostatic Hexapoles: A Theoretical Study on 1-Chloroethanol and 2-Chloroethanol

The electrostatic hexapole is a versatile device that has been used for many years in gas-phase experiments. Its inhomogeneous electric field has been employed for many purposes such as the selection of rotational states, the selection of clusters, the focusing of molecular beams, and molecular alignment as a precursor for molecular orientation. In the last few years, the hexapolar electric field has been demonstrated to be able to control the conformer composition of molecular beams. The key point is that conformers, where the component of the permanent electric dipole moment with respect to the largest of the principal axes of inertia is close to zero, require more intense hexapolar electric fields to be focused with respect to the other conformers. Here, we simulated the focusing curves of the conformers of 1-chloroethanol and 2-chloroethanol under hypothetical beam conditions, identical for all conformers, in a hypothetical and realistic experimental setup with three different hexapole lengths: 0.5, 1, and 2 m. The objective was to characterize this selection process to set up collision experiments on conformer-selected beams that provide information on the van der Waals clusters formed in collision processes.