Femtosecond dynamics of Cu(H2O)2

Nuclear quantum dynamics on the ground electronic state of neutral silver dimer 107Ag109Ag probed by femtosecond NeNePo spectroscopy

The nuclear quantum dynamics on the ground electronic state of the neutral silver dimer 107Ag109Ag are studied by femtosecond (fs) pump-probe spectroscopy using the 'negative ion - to neutral - to positive ion' (NeNePo) excitation scheme. A vibrational wave packet is prepared on the X1Σ+g state of Ag2via photodetachment of mass-selected, cryogenically cooled Ag2- using a first ultrafast pump laser pulse. The temporal evolution of the wave packet is then probed by an ultrafast probe pulse via resonant multiphoton ionization to Ag2+. Frequency analysis of the fs-NeNePo spectra obtained for a single isotopologue and pump-probe delay times up to 60 ps yields the harmonic (ωe = 192.2 cm-1), quadratic anharmonic (ωexe = 0.637 cm-1) and cubic anharmonic (ωeye = 3 × 10-4 cm-1) constants for the X1Σ+g state of neutral Ag2. The fs-NeNePo spectra obtained at different pump wavelengths provide insight into the excitation mechanism. At a pump wavelength of 510 nm instead of 1010 nm, resonant excitation of a short-lived electronically excited state of the anion followed by autodetachment results in population of higher-energy vibrational levels of the neutral ground state. In contrast, at 1140 nm dynamics with a slightly shorter beating period and different relative phase are observed. The present study demonstrates that isotopologue-specific fs-NeNePo spectroscopy provides accurate vibrational constants of mass-selected neutral clusters in their electronic ground state in the terahertz spectral region, which remains difficult to obtain directly in the frequency domain with any other type of spectroscopy of comparable sensitivity.

Photoelectron imaging and theoretical study on nascent hydrogen bond network in microsolvated clusters of Au- (CH3OH)n (n = 1-5)

We first demonstrate the photoelectron spectroscopic evidence of the transition of two competitive solvation patterns in the Au(-)(CH3OH)n (n = 1-5) clusters. Quantum chemical calculations have been carried out to characterize the geometric structures, energy properties and hydrogen-bonded patterns, and to aid the spectral assignment. It has been found that the nonconventional hydrogen bonds dominate the small clusters (n = 1 and 2), whereas the conventional hydrogen bonds play more and more important role from n = 2 to n = 5. This finding provides concrete hydrogen bond network evolution of Au(-) surrounded by methanol molecules.

Photoelectron velocity-map imaging spectroscopic and theoretical study on the reactivity of the gold atom toward CH3SH, CH3OH, and H2O

Photoelectron velocity-map imaging spectroscopy has been used to study the reaction of the anionic gold atom with the HR (R = SCH3, OCH3, OH) molecules. The solvated [Au···HR](-) and inserted [HAuR](-) products have been experimentally observed for R = SCH3, whereas only solvated [Au⋯HR](-) products were found for R = OCH3 and OH. This significant difference in the photoelectron spectra suggests the different reactivity of the Au(-) toward the CH3SH, CH3OH, and H2O molecules. Second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory and coupled-cluster single double triple excitation calculations have been performed to aid the structural assignment of the spectra and to explore the reaction mechanism. Activation energies for the isomerizations of the solvated structures to the inserted ones in the Au(-)∕Au + HR reactions (R = OCH3 and OH) are predicted to be much higher than those for the Au(-)∕Au + CH3SH reactions, supporting the experimental observation. Theoretical calculations provide the evidence that the intriguing [HAuSCH3](-) product may be formed by the attachment of the electron onto the neutral HAuSCH3 species or the isomerization from the anionic [Au···HSCH3](-) one. These findings should be helpful for understanding the feature that the thiols are able to form the staple motifs, whereas CH3OH and H2O are not.

Photoelectron imaging of Ag(-)(H2O)x and AgOH(-)(H2O)y (x=1,2, y=0-4)

The photoelectron images of Ag(-)(H(2)O)(x) (x=1,2) and AgOH(-)(H(2)O)(y) (y=0-4) are reported. The Ag(-)(H(2)O)(1,2) anionic complexes have similar characteristics to the other two coinage metal-water complexes that can be characterized as metal atomic anion solvated by water molecules with the electron mainly localized on the metal. The vibrationally well-resolved photoelectron spectrum allows the adiabatic detachment energy (ADE) and vertical detachment energy (VDE) of AgOH(-) to be determined as 1.18(2) and 1.24(2) eV, respectively. The AgOH(-) anion interacts more strongly with water molecules than the Ag(-) anion. The photoelectron spectra of Ag(-)(H(2)O)(x) and AgOH(-)(H(2)O)(y) show a gradual increase in ADE and VDE with increasing x and y due to the solvent stabilization.

Solvent-mediated charge redistribution in photodissociation of IBr(-) and IBr(-)(CO2)

A combined experimental and theoretical investigation of photodissociation dynamics of IBr(-) and IBr(-)(CO(2)) on the B ((2)Σ(1/2)(+)) excited electronic state is presented. Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that in bare IBr(-) prompt dissociation forms exclusively I∗ + Br(-). Compared to earlier dissociation studies of IBr(-) excited to the A' ((2)Π(1∕2)) state, the signal rise is delayed by 200 ± 20 fs. In the case of IBr(-)(CO(2)), the product distribution shows the existence of a second major (∼40%) dissociation pathway, Br∗ + I(-). In contrast to the primary product channel, the signal rise associated with this pathway shows only a 50 ± 20 fs delay. The altered product branching ratio indicates that the presence of one solvent-like CO(2) molecule dramatically affects the electronic structure of the dissociating IBr(-). We explore the origins of this phenomenon with classical trajectories, quantum wave packet studies, and MR-SO-CISD calculations of the six lowest-energy electronic states of IBr(-) and 36 lowest-energy states of IBr. We find that the CO(2) molecule provides sufficient solvation energy to bring the initially excited state close in energy to a lower-lying state. The splitting between these states and the time at which the crossing takes place depend on the location of the solvating CO(2) molecule.

Femtosecond dynamics of Cu(CD3OD)

We report the femtosecond nuclear dynamics of Cu(CD3OD) van der Waals clusters, investigated using photodetachment-photoionization spectroscopy. Photodetachment of an electron from Cu-(CD3OD) with a 150 fs, 398 nm laser pulse produces a vibrationally excited neutral complex that undergoes ligand reorientation and dissociation. The dynamics of Cu(CD3OD) on the neutral surface is interrogated by delayed femtosecond resonant two-photon ionization. Analysis of the resulting time-dependent signals indicates that the nascent Cu(CD3OD) complex dissociates on two distinct time scales of 3 and 30 ps. To understand the origins of the observed time scales, complimentary studies were performed. These included measurement of the photoelectron spectrum of Cu-(CD3OD) as well as a series of calculations of the structure and the electronic and vibrational energies of the anion and neutral complexes. Based on the comparisons of the experimental and calculated results for Cu(CD3OD) with those obtained from earlier studies of Cu(H2O), we conclude that the 3 ps time scale reflects the energy transfer from the rotation of CD3OD in the complex to the dissociation coordinate, while the 30 ps time scale reflects the energy transfer from the excited methyl torsion states to the dissociation coordinate.

Direct observation of the solvent reorientation dynamics in the “twisted” intramolecular charge-transfer process of cyanophenyldisilane–water cluster by transient infrared spectroscopy

The solvent reorientation dynamics of the intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) process of the (p-cyanophenyl)pentamethyldisilane-H(2)O (CPDS-H(2)O) cluster was investigated by transient infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy. Transient IR bands of two distinct charge-transfer (CT) states appeared in both the OH and the CN-stretching vibration regions. Analyses of the IR spectra and the time profiles of the transient bands revealed that the ICT process of the CPDS-H(2)O cluster proceeds in two steps. The first step is a transition from a photo-prepared locally excited (LE) state to the CT state, which is accompanied by a minor reorientation of the H(2)O moiety. In contrast, the second step is an extensive reorientation process of the H(2)O molecule in the CT state. These two reorientation processes exhibit very distinct pico- and nano-second time scales. In the latter case, a relatively slow time constant of 2 ns was related to a large geometric change in the orientation.

Ultrafast nuclear dynamics induced by photodetachment of Ag2– and Ag2O2–: oxygen desorption from a molecular silver surface

Femtosecond nuclear dynamics of mass-selected neutral Ag2 and Ag2O2 clusters are investigated with the 'negative ion-to neutral-to positive ion'(NeNePo) technique. For the bare silver dimer, wave packet dynamics occurring in the neutral electronic ground state and in the first excited triplet state are observed after photodetachment from the anion with 3.05 eV photon energy. While the dynamics in the ground state lead to an oscillatory structure in the NeNePo-pump-probe spectra with a vibrational constant of 185 cm-1, the dynamics in the triplet state are assigned to a bound-free transition leading to dissociation. Photodetachment from the Ag2O2- complex results in the desorption of O2. The experimental data clearly show the influence of the desorbing oxygen ligand on the nuclear dynamics of the silver dimer inducing a red shift in the vibrational frequency and an intensity enhancement of the oscillatory signal.