Photodissociative spectroscopy of the hydroxymethyl radical (CH2OH) in the 3s and 3px states

Quantum Dynamics of Photodissociation: Recent Advances and Challenges

Recent advances in constructing accurate potential energy surfaces and nonadiabatic couplings from high-level ab initio data have revealed detailed potential landscapes in not only the ground electronic state but also excited ones. They enabled quantitatively accurate characterization of photoexcited reactive systems using quantum mechanical methods. In this Perspective, we survey the recent progress in quantum mechanical studies of adiabatic and nonadiabatic photodissociation dynamics, focusing on initial state control and product energy disposal. These new insights helped to understand quantum effects in small prototypical systems, and the results serve as benchmarks for developing more approximate theoretical methods.

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.

High-fidelity first principles nonadiabaticity: diabatization, analytic representation of global diabatic potential energy matrices, and quantum dynamics

Nonadiabatic dynamics, which goes beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, has increasingly been shown to play an important role in chemical processes, particularly those involving electronically excited states. Understanding multistate dynamics requires rigorous quantum characterization of both electronic and nuclear motion. However, such first principles treatments of multi-dimensional systems have so far been rather limited due to the lack of accurate coupled potential energy surfaces and difficulties associated with quantum dynamics. In this Perspective, we review recent advances in developing high-fidelity analytical diabatic potential energy matrices for quantum dynamical investigations of polyatomic uni- and bi-molecular nonadiabatic processes, by machine learning of high-level ab initio data. Special attention is paid to methods of diabatization, high fidelity construction of multi-state coupled potential energy surfaces and property surfaces, as well as quantum mechanical characterization of nonadiabatic nuclear dynamics. To illustrate the tremendous progress made by these new developments, several examples are discussed, in which direct comparison with quantum state resolved measurements led to either confirmation of the observation or sometimes reinterpretation of the experimental data. The insights gained in these prototypical systems greatly advance our understanding of nonadiabatic dynamics in chemical systems.

Active vs. spectator modes in nonadiabatic photodissociation dynamics of the hydroxymethyl radical via the 22A(3s) Rydberg state

The choice of the active degrees of freedom (DOFs) is a pivotal issue in a reduced-dimensional model of quantum dynamics when a full-dimensional one is not feasible. Here, several five-dimensional (5D) models are used to investigate the nonadiabatic photodissociation dynamics of the hydroxymethyl (CH₂OH) radical, which possesses nine internal DOFs, in its lowest absorption band. A normal-mode based scheme is used to identify the active and spectator modes, and its predictions are confirmed by 5D quantum dynamical calculations. Our results underscore the important role of the CO stretching mode in the photodissociation dynamics of CH₂OH, originating from the photo-induced promotion of an electron from the half-occupied π*_CO antibonding orbital to a carbon Rydberg orbital.

Signatures of a Conical Intersection in Adiabatic Dissociation on the Ground Electronic State

Conical intersections are known to cause nonadiabatic transitions, but their effects on adiabatic dynamics are often ignored. Using the overtone-induced dissociation of the hydroxymethyl radical as an example, we demonstrate that ground-state O-H bond rupture is significantly affected by a conical intersection with an electronically excited state along the dissociation path, despite the much lower energy of the dissociating state than that of the conical intersection. In addition to lifetime differences, the geometric phase leads to a different H₂CO rotational state distribution compared with that obtained using the standard single-state adiabatic model, which constitutes a signature of the conical intersection.

Sub-Doppler infrared spectroscopy of CH2OH radical in a slit supersonic jet: Vibration-rotation-tunneling dynamics in the symmetric CH stretch manifold

The sub-Doppler CH-symmetric stretch (ν₃) infrared absorption spectrum of a hydroxymethyl (CH₂OH) radical is observed and analyzed with the radical formed in a slit-jet supersonic discharge expansion (T_rot = 18 K) via Cl atom mediated H atom abstraction from methanol. The high sensitivity of the spectrometer and reduced spectral congestion associated with the cooled expansion enable first infrared spectroscopic observation of hydroxymethyl transitions from both ± symmetry tunneling states resulting from large amplitude COH torsional motion. Nuclear spin statistics due to exchange of the two methyl H-atoms aid in unambiguous rovibrational assignment of two A-type K_a = 0 ← 0 and K_a = 1 ← 1 bands out of each ± tunneling state, with additional spectral information obtained from spin-rotation splittings in P, Q, and R branch K_a = 1 ← 1 transitions that become resolved at low N. A high level ab initio potential surface (CCSD(T)-f12b/cc-pvnzf12 (n = 2,3)/CBS) is calculated in the large amplitude COH torsional and CH₂ wag coordinates, which in the adiabatic approximation and with zero point correction predicts ground state tunneling splittings in good qualitative agreement with experiment. Of particular astrochemical interest, a combined fit of the present infrared ground state combination differences with recently reported millimeter-wave frequencies permits the determination of improved accuracy rotational constants for the ground vibrational state, which will facilitate ongoing millimeter/microwave searches for a hydroxymethyl radical in the interstellar medium.

Unimolecular processes in CH2OH below the dissociation barrier: O–H stretch overtone excitation and dissociation

The OH-stretch overtone spectroscopy and dynamics of the hydroxymethyl radical, CH(2)OH, are reported in the region of the second and third overtones, which is above the thermochemical threshold to dissociation to H+CH(2)O (D(0)=9600 cm(-1)). The second overtone spectrum at 10 484 cm(-1) is obtained by double resonance IR-UV resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) spectroscopy via the 3p(z) electronic state. It is rotationally resolved with a linewidth of 0.4 cm(-1) and displays properties of local-mode vibration. No dissociation products are observed. The third overtone spectra of CH(2)OH and CD(2)OH are observed at approximately 13 600 cm(-1) by monitoring H-atom photofragments while scanning the excitation laser frequency. No double resonance REMPI spectrum is detected, and no D fragments are produced. The spectra of both isotope analogs can be simulated with a linewidth of 1.3 cm(-1), indicating dissociation via tunneling. By treating the tunneling as one dimensional and using the calculated imaginary frequency, the barrier to dissociation is estimated at about 15 200 cm(-1), in good agreement with theoretical estimations. The Birge-Sponer plot is linear for OH-stretch vibrations 1nu(1)-4nu(1), demonstrating behavior of a one-dimensional Morse oscillator. The anharmonicity parameter derived from the plot is similar to the values obtained for other small OH containing molecules. Isomerization to methoxy does not contribute to the predissociation signal and the mechanism appears to be direct O-H fission via tunneling. CH(2)OH presents a unique example in which the reaction coordinate is excited directly and leads to predissociation via tunneling while preserving the local-mode character of the stretch vibration.

Competitive C–H and O–D bond fission channels in the UV photodissociation of the deuterated hydroxymethyl radical CH2OD

Photodissociation studies of the CH2OD radical in the region 28,000-41,000 cm(-1) (357-244 nm), which includes excitation to the 3s, 3p(x), and 3p(z) states, are reported. H and D photofragments are monitored by using resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) from the onset of H formation at approximately 30,500 cm(-1) to the origin band region of the 3pz(2A")<--1 2A" transition at 41,050 cm(-1). Kinetic energy distributions P(ET) and recoil anisotropy parameters as a function of kinetic energy, beta(eff)(ET), are determined by the core sampling technique for the channels producing H and D fragments. Two dissociation channels are identified: (I) D+CH2O and (II) H+CHOD. The contribution of channel II increases monotonically as the excitation energy is increased. Based on the calculations of Hoffmann and Yarkony [J. Chem. Phys. 116, 8300 (2002)], it is concluded that conical intersections between 3s and the ground state determine the final branching ratio even when initial excitation accesses the 3px) and 3pz states. The different beta(eff) values obtained for channels I and II (-0.7 and approximately 0.0, respectively) are attributed to the different extents of out-of-plane nuclear motions in the specific couplings between 3s and the ground state (of A' and A'' symmetry, respectively) that lead to each channel. The upper limit to the dissociation energy of the C-H bond, determined from P(ET), is D0(C-H)=3.4+/-0.1 eV (79+/-2 kcal/mol). Combining this value with the known heats of formation of H and CH2OD, the heat of formation of CHOD is estimated at DeltaHf(0)(CHOD)=24+/-2 kcal/mol.

Mechanism and dynamics of azobenzene photoisomerization

The excited-state dynamics of trans-azobenzene were investigated by femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics. Two near-degenerate pipi* excited states, S2 and S3,4, were identified in a region hitherto associated with only one excited state. These results help to explain contradictory reports about the photoisomerization mechanism and the wavelength dependence of the quantum yield. A new model for the isomerization mechanism is proposed.