Site-Dependent Spectral Shifts in Core-to-π* Excitations of Pyridine Clusters

Pyridine Dimers and Their Low-Temperature Isomerization: A High-Resolution Matrix-Isolation Spectroscopy Study

The bonding between two neutral aromatic compounds, especially small ones, has been controversially debated in the last decades, and terms like "π-stacking" had to be revised. Surprisingly, despite of many experimental and computational work, there is still no clear consensus about the structure of and the bonding in the pyridine dimer. In this work, for different isomeric forms of the pyridine dimer, the structures and bonding were elucidated by combining high-resolution matrix-isolation spectroscopic results with quantum-chemical calculations. High-resolution IR spectra of Ne matrices at 4 K containing pyridine were recorded for different concentrations and upon annealing to 10 and 12 K, relying on three isotopologues of pyridine. The spectra show the presence of hydrogen-bonded, T-shaped, and stacked forms of weakly-bound pyridine dimers. Among these, the hydrogen-bonded isomer is identified as the lowest-energy form. The results provide for the first time conclusive information about the interaction between two pyridine dimers.

Cation and Anion Formation in F 1s-Excited SF6-Clusters

Cation and anion formation from molecular SF6 and SF6 clusters is reported in the F 1s-excitation regime (680–720 eV) using tunable synchrotron radiation. Stable products are identified by mass spectrometry, while the tunablility of the soft X-rays source is used to determine mechanistic details on the formation of the detected charged products. Characteristic differences are observed between product formation from the isolated molecule as well as from clusters for both, cations and anions. Specifically, dication formation, such as SF2 2+, is only observed for molecular precursors, which are formed with high efficiency at the F 1s → t2g-transition. SF6 − is efficiently formed from clusters upon F 1s → t1u-transition. Mechanistic details on the formation of stable products are discussed.

Intermolecular Interactions of Pyridine in Liquid Phase and Aqueous Solution Studied by Soft X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Intermolecular interactions of pyridine in liquid and in aqueous solution are studied by using soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the C, N, and O K-edges. XAS of liquid pyridine shows that the N 1s→π* peak is blue shifted and the C 1s→π* peak of the meta and para sites is red shifted, respectively, as compared with XAS of pyridine gas. These shifts in liquid are smaller than those in clusters, indicating that the intermolecular interaction of liquid pyridine is weaker than that of pyridine cluster, as supported by the combination of quantum chemical calculations of the core excitation and molecular dynamics simulations of the liquid structure. On the other hand, XAS spectra of aqueous pyridine solutions (C5H5N)x(H2O)1−x measured at different molar fractions show that in the pyridine rich region, x>0.7, the C and N 1s→π* peak energies are not so different from pure liquid pyridine (x=1.0). In this region, antiparallel displaced structures of pyridine molecules are dominant as in pure pyridine liquid. In the O K-edge XAS, the pre-edge peaks sensitive to the hydrogen bond (HB) network of water molecules show the red shift of −0.15 eV from that of bulk water, indicating that small water clusters with no large-scale HB network are formed in the gap space of structured pyridine molecules. In the water rich region, 0.7>x, the N 1s→π* peaks and the O 1s pre-edge peaks are blue shifted, and the C 1s→π* peaks of the meta and para sites are red-shifted by increasing molar fraction of water. The HB network of bulk water is dominant, but quantum chemical calculations indicate that small pyridine clusters with the HB interaction between the H atom in water and the N atom in pyridine are still existent even in very dilute pyridine solutions.

Fragment and cluster ions from gaseous and condensed pyridine produced under electron impact

The ion-distribution from condensed pyridine due to 2 keV electron impact shows hydrogenated fragments and clusters with m/z ≤ 320 u and shifts towards higher masses compared to the gas-phase fragmentation. The formation of a bond between the pyridine and a carbenium ion is crucial for the stability of the selected cluster ions.

Gas-to-cluster effects in S 2p-excited SF(6)

High resolution X-ray spectroscopic studies on free SF6 molecules and SF6 clusters near the S 2p ionization thresholds are reported. Spectral changes occurring in clusters for the intense molecular-like S 2p1/2,3/2 → 6a1g-, 2t2g-, and 4eg-resonances are examined in detail. Neither gas-to-cluster spectral shifts nor changes in peak shape are observed for the pre-edge 6a1g-band. Significant changes in band shape and distinct gas-to-cluster shifts occur in the S 2p1/2,3/2 → 2t2g- and 4eg-transitions. These are found in the S 2p-ionization continua. The quasiatomic approach is used to assign the experimental results. It is shown that a convolution of asymmetric and symmetric contributions from Lorentzian and Gaussian line shapes allows us to model the spectral distribution of oscillator strength for the S 2p1/2,3/2 → 2t2g-, and 4eg-transitions. The asymmetry is due to trapping of the photoelectron within the finite size potential barrier. The Lorentzian contribution is found to be dominating in the line shape of the S 2p → 2t2g- and 4eg-bands. The spectroscopic parameters of the spin-orbit components of both the 2t2g- and 4eg-bands are extracted and their gas-to-cluster changes are analyzed. The photoelectron trapping times in free and clustered SF6 molecules are determined. Specifically, it is shown that spectral changes in clusters reflected in core-to-valence-transitions are due to a superposition of the singly scattered photoelectron waves at the neighboring molecules with the primary and multiply scattered waves within the molecular cage.

Nucleation of organic crystals--a molecular perspective

The outcome of synthetic procedures for crystalline organic materials strongly depends on the first steps along the molecular self-assembly pathway, a process we know as crystal nucleation. New experimental techniques and computational methodologies have spurred significant interest in understanding the detailed molecular mechanisms by which nuclei form and develop into macroscopic crystals. Although classical nucleation theory (CNT) has served well in describing the kinetics of the processes involved, new proposed nucleation mechanisms are additionally concerned with the evolution of structure and the competing nature of crystallization in polymorphic systems. In this Review, we explore the extent to which CNT and nucleation rate measurements can yield molecular-scale information on this process and summarize current knowledge relating to molecular self-assembly in nucleating systems.

Binding geometry of hydrogen-bonded chain motif in self-assembled gratings and layers on Ag(111)

Upon adsorption on the (111) facet of Ag, 4-[trans-2-(pyrid-4-yl-vinyl)] benzoic acid (PVBA) self-assembles into a highly ordered, chiral twin chain structure at submonolayer coverages with domains that can extend for micrometers in one dimension. Using polarization-dependent measurements of C and N K-shell excitations in near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra, we determine the binding geometry of single PVBA molecules within this unique ensemble for both low and high coverage regimes. At submonolayer coverage, the molecule is twisted to facilitate the formation of hydrogen bonds. The gas-phase planarity is gradually recovered as the coverage is increased, with complete planarity coinciding with loss of order in the overlayer. Thermal treatment of the PVBA film results in deprotonation of the carboxyl tail of the molecule, but despite the suppression of the stabilizing hydrogen-bonds, the overlayer remains ordered.