Ozone Photodissociation: Isotopic and Electronic Branching Ratios for Symmetric and Asymmetric Isotopologues

Lifetimes and decay mechanisms of isotopically substituted ozone above the dissociation threshold: matching quantum and classical dynamics

Energies and lifetimes of vibrational resonances were computed for 18O-enriched isotopologue 50O3 = {16O16O18O and 16O18O16O} of the ozone molecule using hyperspherical coordinates and the method of complex absorbing potential. Various types of scattering resonances were identified, including roaming OO-O rotational states, the series corresponding to continuation of bound vibrational resonances of highly excited bending or symmetric stretching vibrational modes. Such a series become metastable above the dissociation limit. The coupling between the vibrationally excited O2 fragment and rotational roaming gives rise to Feshbach type resonances in ozone. Different paths for the formation and decay of symmetric 16O18O16O and asymmetric species 16O16O18O were also identified. The symmetry properties of the total rovibronic wave functions of the 18O-enriched isotopologues are discussed in the context of allowed dissociation channels.

UV Absorption Spectroscopy of the Conformer-Dependent Reactivity of the Four Carbon Criegee Intermediate of Methyl Vinyl Ketone Oxide: An Ab initio Quantum Dynamics Study

An extended theoretical analysis of the photodissociation dynamics of the four-carbon Criegee intermediate (CH2═CH(CH3)COO) or methyl vinyl ketone oxide, which has four conformers, following excitation to the B state, is presented. Our analysis relies on multireference electronic wave functions combined with a wavepacket propagation treatment for the two coupled B1A' and C1A' electronic states and two nuclear degrees of freedom. For each conformer, the 2D model depends on potential energy surfaces (PESs) along the O-O and C-O-O bending modes for the two lowest excited states, B1A' and C1A', and is sufficiently accurate to reproduce the experimental B1A' ← X1A' absorption spectrum with unprecedented accuracy. It is found that the roles of each conformer are essential in producing a cumulative spectrum, which is close to the recent experimental spectrum. The anti-trans and anti-cis conformers make contributions at the longer and shorter wavelengths of the cumulative spectrum, respectively, while the syn-cis and syn-trans conformers have contributions in the middle wavelength range of the cumulative spectrum of MVK-oxide. The existence of a deep well for each conformer on the PESs of the (diabatic) B state causes a considerable amount of the wavepacket to be reflected by the B state wells, which can explain the oscillatory structures appearing in the long wavelength range of 360-480 nm of the spectrum. The weakly avoided crossings between the B-state and C-state PESs of each conformer appearing within the range of 2.80-3.08 eV excitation energy cause considerable disturbance in the vibronic fine structure of the bands. The results give novel insight into the complex interactions governing this intriguing process.

Temperature Dependence of the Electronic Absorption Spectrum of NO2

The nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) radical is composed of the two most abundant elements in the atmosphere, where it can be formed in a variety of ways including combustion, detonation of energetic materials, and lightning. Relevant also to smog and ozone cycles, together these processes span a wide range of temperatures. Remarkably, high-resolution NO₂ electronic absorption spectra have only been reported in a narrow range below about 300 K. Previously, we reported [ J. Phys. Chem. A 2021, 125, 5519-5533] the construction of quasi-diabatic potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the lowest four electronic states (X̃, Ã, B̃, and C̃) of NO₂. In addition to three-dimensional PESs based on explicitly correlated MRCI(Q)-F12/VTZ-F12 ab initio data, the geometry dependence of each component of the dipoles and transition dipoles was also mapped into fitted surfaces. The multiconfigurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method was then used to compute the 0 K electronic absorption spectrum (from the ground rovibrational initial state) employing those energy and transition dipole surfaces. Here, in an extension of that work, we report an investigation into the effects of elevated temperature on the spectrum, considering the effects of the population of rotationally and vibrationally excited initial states. The calculations are complemented by new experimental measurements. Spectral contributions from hundreds of rotational states up to N = 20 and from 200 individually-characterized vibrational states were computed. A spectral simulation tool was developed that enables modeling the spectrum at various temperatures─by weighting individual spectral contributions via the partition function, or for pure excited initial states, which can be probed via transient absorption spectroscopy. We validate these results against experimental absorption spectroscopy data at high temperatures, as well as via a new measurement from the (1,0,1) initial vibrational state.

Representation of Diabatic Potential Energy Matrices for Multiconfiguration Time-Dependent Hartree Treatments of High-Dimensional Nonadiabatic Photodissociation Dynamics

Conventional quantum mechanical characterization of photodissociation dynamics is restricted by steep scaling laws with respect to the dimensionality of the system. In this work, we examine the applicability of the multi-configurational time-dependent Hartree (MCTDH) method in treating nonadiabatic photodissociation dynamics in two prototypical systems, taking advantage of its favorable scaling laws. To conform to the sum-of-product form, elements of the ab initio diabatic potential energy matrix (DPEM) are re-expressed using the recently proposed Monte Carlo canonical polyadic decomposition method, with enforcement of proper symmetry. The MCTDH absorption spectra and product branching ratios are shown to compare well with those calculated using conventional grid-based methods, demonstrating its promise for treating high-dimensional nonadiabatic photodissociation problems.

The Low-Lying Electronic States of NO2: Potential Energy and Dipole Surfaces, Bound States, and Electronic Absorption Spectrum

Nitrogen dioxide, NO₂, is a free radical composed of the two most abundant elements in Earth's atmosphere, nitrogen and oxygen, and is relevant to atmospheric and combustion chemistry. The electronic structure of even its lowest-lying states is remarkably complex, with various conical intersections and Renner-Teller pairings, giving rise to complex and perturbed vibronic states. Here we report some analysis of the 18 molecular states of doublet spin-multiplicity formed by combining ground-state N(⁴S_u) and O(³P_g) atoms. Three-dimensional potential energy surfaces were fit at the MRCI(Q)-F12/VTZ-F12 level, describing the lowest four (X̃, Ã, B̃, and C̃) electronic states. A properties-based diabatization procedure was applied to accommodate the intersections, producing energies in a quasidiabatic representation and yielding couplings that were also fit into surfaces. The low-lying vibrational levels on the ground X̃ state were computed and compared with experimental measurements. Compared to experiment, the lowest 125 calculated vibrational levels (up to 8500 cm^-1 above the zero-point energy) have a root-mean-squared error of 16.5 cm^-1. In addition, dipole moments for each of the lowest four electronic states-and the transition dipoles between them-were also computed and fit. With the coupled energy and dipole surfaces, the electronic spectrum was calculated in absolute intensity and compared with experimental measurements. Detailed structure in the experimental spectrum was successfully reproduced, and the total integrated intensity matches experiment to an accuracy of ∼1.5% with no empirical adjustments.

Nascent O2 (a 1Δg, v = 0, 1) rotational distributions from the photodissociation of jet-cooled O3 in the Hartley band

We report rotational distributions for the O₂ (a ¹Δ_g) fragment from the photodissociation of jet-cooled O₃ at 248, 266, and 282 nm. The rotational distributions show a population alternation that favors the even states, as previously reported for a 300 K sample by Valentini et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 86, 6745 (1987)]. The alternation from the jet-cooled precursor is much stronger than that observed by Valentini et al. and in contrast to their observations does not depend strongly on the O₂ (a ¹Δ_g) vibrational state or photolysis wavelength. The odd/even alternation diminishes substantially when the ozone beam temperature is increased from 60 to 200 K, confirming its dependence on parent internal energy. The magnitude of the even/odd alternation in product rotational states from the cold ozone sample, its temperature dependence, and other experimental and theoretical evidence reported since 1987 suggest that the alternation originates from a Λ-doublet propensity and not from a mass independent curve crossing effect, as previously proposed.

Attosecond electronic and nuclear quantum photodynamics of ozone monitored with time and angle resolved photoelectron spectra

Recently we reported a series of numerical simulations proving that it is possible in principle to create an electronic wave packet and subsequent electronic motion in a neutral molecule photoexcited by a UV pump pulse within a few femtoseconds. We considered the ozone molecule: for this system the electronic wave packet leads to a dissociation process. In the present work, we investigate more specifically the time-resolved photoelectron angular distribution of the ozone molecule that provides a much more detailed description of the evolution of the electronic wave packet. We thus show that this experimental technique should be able to give access to observing in real time the creation of an electronic wave packet in a neutral molecule and its impact on a chemical process.

Comparison of the Huggins band for six ozone isotopologues: vibrational levels and absorption cross section

By use of the 3(1)A' ab initio potential energy surface (PES) of ozone and the multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree program for wavepacket propagation, we have determined numerous eigenstates of this state for six ozone isotopologues. These bound vibrational levels are the upper levels of the Huggins band, which covers the range from 27,000 to ~33,000 cm(-1). This study extends our previous work on the Hartley band, which was limited to the range ~32,000-50,000 cm(-1). Four isotopologues, (16)O(3), (16)O(17)O(16)O, (16)O(18)O(16)O, and (18)O(3) (noted hereafter 666, 676, 686, and 888), are symmetric, and two are asymmetric, (17)O(16)O(2) and (18)O(16)O(2) (noted hereafter 667 and 668). The PES of the 3(1)A' state has two equivalent minima of C(s) symmetry located at ~27,000 cm(-1) above the X(1)A(1) ground state. The equilibrium geometry of these two minima is r(e(1)) = 2.28 a(0), r(e(2)) = 3.2 a(0), and θ(e) = 107°. The dissociation limit of this PES, which correlates to the O((1)D) + O(2) ((1)Δ) "singlet" channel, is about 4300 cm(-1) above the two minima. For the (16)O(3) isotopologue, the 120 lowest bound eigenstates have been calculated and partially assigned up to 800 cm(-1) below the dissociation limit. The 60 lower eigenstates are easily assignable in term of three normal modes, the "long" bond (ν(1)), the bending (ν(2)), and the "short" bond (ν(3)). A new family of wave functions, aligned along the dissociation channels, appears at 3782 cm(-1) above the 3(1)A' (0,0,0) level. The 3(1)A' vibrational levels and the corresponding intensity factors from the (000), (010), (100), and (001) levels of the X(1)A(1) ground state have been calculated for the six isotopologues. The Huggins absorption cross sections of the six isotopologues have been calculated from the 3(1)A' vibrational energy levels and the corresponding intensity factors. The rotational envelope of each vibronic band has been empirically described by an ad hoc function. The ratio of the Huggins cross section of each ozone isotopologue with one of (16)O(3) provides the fractionation factor of each ozone isotopologue as a function of the photon energy. These various fractionation factors will allow predicting enrichments due to photolysis by various light sources like the actinic flux.