Excited-State Reaction Dynamics of Chlorine Dioxide in Water from Absolute Resonance Raman Intensities

Resonance Raman intensity analysis of ClNO(2) dissolved in methanol

Halogens such as chlorine are converted from halides, including ClNO(2), to reactive radicals by UV solar radiation. These radicals can affect ozone production and destruction in the stratosphere. Recently, it became clear that halogen radicals can also play a significant role in the chemistry of the troposphere. The photochemistry of ClNO(2) has been the subject of several studies in the gas and solid state that demonstrated a clear phase-dependent reactivity. Here, we report our initial studies of nitryl chloride in solution. Resonance Raman (RR) spectra of ClNO(2) dissolved in methanol after excitation within the 1(1)A(1)-2(1)A(1) absorption band (D band) in the region 200-240 nm are presented. RR intensity along the NO symmetric stretch coordinate (v(1)) at 1291 cm(-1) is observed at all excitation wavelengths, whereas limited intensity corresponding to the transition of the N-Cl symmetric stretch (v(3)) was only observed at 199.8 nm, whereas no intensity corresponding to the O-N-O symmetric bend (v(2)) was observed. Depolarization ratios and absolute resonance Raman cross sections for v(1) were obtained at several excitation wavelengths spanning the D band. Depolarization ratios were found to deviate significantly from 1/3, consistent with more than a single dipole-allowed electronic transition contributing to the scattering. RR intensity analysis (RRIA) reveals that two closely spaced excited electronic states contribute to the scattering, which are dissociative along the Cl-N coordinate. In this study the role the solvent environment plays in ClNO(2) state energetics and excited structural evolution along fundamental coordinates is discussed.

Femtosecond pump-probe studies of actinic-wavelength dependence in aqueous chlorine dioxide photochemistry

The actinic or photolysis-wavelength dependence of aqueous chlorine dioxide (OClO) photochemistry is investigated using femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. Following photoexcitation at 310, 335, and 410 nm the photoinduced evolution in optical density is measured from the UV to the near IR. Analysis of the optical-density evolution illustrates that the quantum yield for atomic chlorine production (Phi(Cl)) increases with actinic energy, with Phi(Cl)=0.16+/-0.02 for 410 nm excitation and increasing to 0.25+/-0.01 and 0.54+/-0.10 for 335 and 310 nm excitations, respectively. Consistent with previous studies, the production of Cl occurs through two channels, with one channel corresponding to prompt (<5 ps) Cl formation and the other corresponding to the thermal decomposition of ClOO formed by OClO photoisomerization. The partitioning between Cl production channels is dependent on actinic energy, with prompt Cl production enhanced with an increase in actinic energy. Limited evidence is found for enhanced ClO production with an increase in actinic energy. Stimulated emission and excited-state absorption features associated with OClO populating the optically prepared (2)A(2) surface decrease with an increase in actinic energy suggesting that the excited-state decay dynamics are also actinic energy dependent. The studies presented here provide detailed information on the actinic-wavelength dependence of OClO photochemistry in aqueous solution.

Time resolved infrared absorption studies of geminate recombination and vibrational relaxation in OClO photochemistry

Ultrafast time-resolved infrared absorption studies of aqueous chlorine dioxide (OClO) photochemistry are reported. Following photoexcitation at 401 nm, the evolution in optical density at frequencies between 1000 to 1100 cm(-1) is monitored to investigate vibrational energy deposition and relaxation along the asymmetric-stretch coordinate following the reformation of ground-state OClO via geminate recombination of the primary photofragments. The measured kinetics are compared to two proposed models for the vibrational-relaxation dynamics along the asymmetric-stretch coordinate. This comparison demonstrates that the perturbation model derived from molecular dynamics studies is capable of qualitatively reproducing the observed kinetics, where the collisional model employed in previous UV-pump, visible probe experiments demonstrates poor agreement with experiment. The ability of the perturbation model to reproduce the optical-density evolution observed in these studies demonstrates that for aqueous OClO, frequency dependence of the solvent-solute coupling is important in defining the level-dependent vibrational relaxation rates along the asymmetric-stretch coordinate. The absence of optical-density evolution corresponding to the population of higher vibrational levels (n>8) along the asymmetric-stretch coordinate suggests that following geminate recombination, energy is initially deposited into a local Cl-O stretch, with the relaxation of vibrational energy from this coordinate providing for delayed vibrational excitation of the asymmetric- and symmetric-stretch coordinates relative to geminate recombination, as previously observed.

Understanding the phase-dependent reactivity of chlorine dioxide using resonance Raman spectroscopy

Progress in understanding the phase-dependent reactivity of chlorine dioxide (OClO) is outlined. Resonance Raman intensity analysis studies of gaseous and solution-phase OClO are presented which demonstrate that the optically prepared excited state undergoes significant modification in solution. In addition, time-resolved resonance Raman studies are presented which demonstrate that geminate recombination of the primary photoproducts, resulting in the re-formation of ground-state OClO, dominates the photochemical reaction dynamics in solution. The current picture of aqueous OClO photochemistry derived from these studies is discussed, and future directions of investigation are outlined.

Kinetics and mechanism of catalytic decomposition and oxidation of chlorine dioxide by the hypochlorite ion

The oxidation of ClO(2) by OCl(-)is first order with respect to both reactants in the neutral to alkaline pH range: -d[ClO(2)]/dt = 2k(OCl)[ClO(2)][OCl(-)]. The rate constant (T = 298 K, mu = 1.0 M NaClO(4)) and activation parameters are k(OCl) = 0.91 +/- 0.02 M(-1) s(-1), DeltaH = 66.5 +/- 0.9 kJ/mol, and DeltaS(++) = -22.3 +/- 2.9 J/(mol K). In alkaline solution, pH > 9, the primary products of the reaction are the chlorite and chlorate ions and consumption of the hypochlorite ion is not observed. The hypochlorite ion is consumed in increasing amounts, and the production of the chlorite ion ceases when the pH is decreased. The stoichiometry is kinetically controlled, and the reactants/products ratios are determined by the relative rates of the production and consumption of the chlorite ion in the ClO(2)/OCl(-) and HOCl/ClO(2)(-) reactions, respectively.