Photodissociation of HCl at 193.3 nm: Spin–orbit branching ratio

Energy partitioning and spin-orbit effects in the photodissociation of higher chloroalkanes

We investigate the photodissociation dynamics of the C-Cl bond in chloroalkanes CH3Cl, n-C3H7Cl, i-C3H7Cl, n-C5H11Cl, combining velocity map imaging (VMI) experiment and direct ab initio dynamical simulations. The Cl fragment kinetic energy distributions (KEDs) from the VMI experiment exhibit a single peak with maximum close to 0.8 eV, irrespective of the alkyl chain length and C-Cl bond position. In contrary to CH3Cl, where less than 10% of the available energy is deposited into the internal excitation of the CH3 fragment, for all higher chloroalkanes around 40% to 60% of the available energy goes into the alkyl fragment excitation. We apply the classical hard spheres and spectator model to explain the energy partitioning, and compare the classical approach with direct ab initio dynamics simulations. The alkyl chain appears to be a soft, energy absorbing unit. We further investigate the role of the spin-orbit effects on the excitation and dynamics. Combining our experimental data with theory allows us to derive the probability of the direct absorption into the triplet electronic state as well as the probabilities for intersystem crossing. The results indicate an increasing direct absorption into the triplet state with increasing alkyl chain length.

Imaging of rotational wave-function in photodissociation of rovibrationally excited HCl molecules

We demonstrate a visualization of quantum mechanical phenomena with the velocity map imaging (VMI) technique, combining vibrationally mediated photodissociation (VMP) of a simple diatomic HCl with the VMI of its H-photofragments. Free HCl molecules were excited by a pump infrared (IR) laser pulse to particular rotational J levels of the v = 2 vibrational state, and subsequently a probe ultraviolet laser photodissociated the molecule at a fixed wavelength of 243.07 nm where also the H-fragments were ionized. The molecule was aligned by the IR excitation with respect to the IR laser polarization, and this alignment was reflected in the angular distribution of the H-photofragments. In particular, the highest degree of molecular alignment was achieved for the J=1←0 transition, which exclusively led to the population of a single rotational state with M = 0. The obtained images were analyzed for further details of the VMP dynamics, and different J states were studied as well. Additionally, we investigated the dynamic evolution of the excited states by changing the pump-probe laser pulse delay; the corresponding images reflected dephasing due to a coupling between the molecular angular momentum and nuclear spin. Our measurements confirmed previous observation using the time-of-flight technique by Sofikitis et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 127, 144307 (2007)]. We observed a partial recovery of the originally excited state after 60 ns in agreement with the previous observation.

Absence of a Signature of Aqueous I(2P1/2) after 200-nm Photodetachment of I-(aq)

Ultrafast pump-broadband probe spectroscopy was used to study the transient photoproducts following 200-nm photodetachment of I(-)(aq). Resonant detachment at 200 nm in the second charge-transfer-to-solvent (CTTS) band of I(-)(aq) is expected to produce an electron and iodine in its spin-orbit excited state, I*((2)P(1/2)). The transients in solution following photodetachment were probed from 200 to 620 nm. Along with strong absorption in the visible region due to solvated electrons and a strong bleach of the I(-)(aq) ground-state absorption, a weaker transient absorption near 260 nm was observed that is consistent with a previously assigned ground-state I((2)P(3/2)) charge-transfer band. However, no evidence was found for an equivalent I*(aq) charge-transfer absorption, and I((2)P(3/2)) was produced within the instrument response. This suggests either that I* is electronically relaxed in less than 300 fs or that excitation in the second CTTS band does not in fact lead to I*. The consequences for previous experimental work where I*(aq) production has been postulated, as well as for halogen electron ejection mechanisms, are discussed. In addition, the broad spectral coverage of this study reveals in the bleach recovery the rapid cooling of the solvent surrounding the re-formed iodide after geminate recombination of the iodine with the solvated electron.

Photodissociation of HBr. 1. Electronic Structure, Photodissociation Dynamics, and Vector Correlation Coefficients

Ab initio potential energy curves, transition dipole moments, and spin-orbit coupling matrix elements are computed for HBr. These are then used, within the framework of time-dependent quantum-mechanical wave-packet calculations, to study the photodissociation dynamics of the molecule. Total and partial integral cross sections, the branching fraction for the formation of excited-state bromine atoms Br(2P(1/2)), and the lowest order anisotropy parameters, beta, for both ground and excited-state bromine are calculated as a function of photolysis energy and compared to experimental and theoretical data determined previously. Higher order anisotropy parameters are computed for the first time for HBr and compared to recent experimental measurements. A new expression for the Re[a1(3) (parallel, perpendicular)] parameter describing coherent parallel and perpendicular production of ground-state bromine in terms of the dynamical functions is given. Although good agreement is obtained between the theoretical predictions and the experimental measurements, the discrepancies are analyzed to establish how improvements might be achieved. Insight is obtained into the nonadiabatic dynamics by comparing the results of diabatic and fully adiabatic calculations.

Vibrational state-dependent predissociation dynamics of ClO (A2Π3/2): Insight from correlated fine structure branching ratios

We have studied the v'-dependent predissociation dynamics of the ClO A (2)Pi(3/2) state using velocity-map ion-imaging. Experimental final correlated state branching ratios, i.e. Cl((2)P(J=3/2,1/2)) + O((3)P(J=2,1,0)) channels, have been measured for v' = 6-11. We find that the branching ratios are highly variable and depend strongly on v', providing a window into the v'-dependent predissociation mechanism. A comparison of the experimental results with the recent model of Lane et al. (I. C. Lane, W. H. Howie and A. J. Orr-Ewing, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 1999, 1, 3087) in both the diabatic and adiabatic limits suggests that the dynamics are closer to the diabatic limit. The overall Cl((2)P(J)) branching ratios are in good agreement with the diabatic model results. There are significant differences, however, between theory and experiment at the correlated state level, demonstrating the sensitivity of correlated measurements to the role of the exit channel coupling in the predissociation dynamics. The results highlight the need for more sophisticated quantum dynamical calculations to describe the correlated fine structure branching ratios in this system.

Photodissociation of Propargyl Chloride at 193 nm

The photodissociation of propargyl chloride (C3H3Cl) has been studied at 193 nm. Ion imaging experiments with state-selective detection of the Cl atoms and single-photon ionization of the C3H3 radicals were performed, along with measurements of the Cl + C3H3 and HCl + C3H2 recoil kinetic energy distributions, using a scattering apparatus with electron bombardment ionization detection to resolve the competing Cl and HCl elimination channels. The experiments allow the determination of the Cl (2P3/2) and Cl (2P1/2) (hereafter Cl) branching fractions associated with the C-Cl bond fission, which are determined to be 0.5 +/- 0.1 for both channels. Although prior translational spectroscopy studies by others had concluded that the low velocity signal at the Cl+ mass was due to daughter fragments of the HCl elimination products, the present work shows that Cl atoms are produced with a bimodal recoil kinetic energy distribution. The major C-Cl bond fission channel, with a narrow recoil kinetic energy distribution peaking near 40 kcal/mol, produces both Cl and Cl, whereas the minor (5%) channel, partitioning much less energy to relative kinetic energy, produces only ground spin-orbit state Cl atoms. The maximum internal energy of the radicals produced in the low-recoil-kinetic-energy channel is consistent with this channel producing electronically excited propargyl radicals. Finally, in contrast to previous studies, the present work determines the HCl recoil kinetic energy distribution and identifies the possible contribution to this spectrum from propargyl radicals cracking to C3+ ions in the mass spectrometer.

The UV photodissociation dynamics of ClO radical using velocity map ion imaging

We have studied the wavelength-dependent photodissociation dynamics of jet-cooled ClO radical from 235 to 291 nm using velocity map ion imaging. We find that Cl(2P(3/2))+O(1D(2)) is the dominant channel above the O(1D(2)) threshold with minor contributions from the Cl(2P(J))+O(3P(J)) and Cl(2P(1/2))+O(1D(2)) channels. We have measured the photofragment angular distributions for each dissociation channel and find that the A 2pi state reached via a parallel transition carries most of the oscillator strength above the O(1D(2)) threshold. The formation of O(3P(J)) fragments with positive anisotropy is evidence of curve crossing from the A 2pi state to one of several dissociative states. The curve crossing probability increases with wavelength in good agreement with previous theoretical calculations. We have directly determined the O(1D(2)) threshold to be 38,050+/-20 cm(-1) by measuring O(1D(2)) quantum yield in the wavelength range of 260-270 nm. We also report on the predissociation dynamics of ClO below the O(1D(2)) threshold. We find that the branching ratio of Cl(2P(3/2))/Cl(2P(1/2)) is 1.5+/-0.1 at both 266 and 291 nm. The rotational depolarization of the anisotropy parameters of the Cl(2P(3/2)) fragments provides predissociation lifetimes of 1.5+/-0.2 ps for the 9-0 band and 1.0+/-0.4 ps for the 8-0 band, in reasonable agreement with previous spectroscopic and theoretical studies.

Atmospheric Chemistry of CH3CHF2 (HFC-152a): Kinetics, Mechanisms, and Products of Cl Atom- and OH Radical-Initiated Oxidation in the Presence and Absence of NOx

Smog chamber/Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopic techniques were used to study the atmospheric degradation of CH3CHF2. The kinetics and products of the Cl(2P(3/2)) (denoted Cl) atom- and the OH radical-initiated oxidation of CH3CHF2 in 700 Torr of air or N2; diluents at 295 +/- 2 K were studied using smog chamber/FTIR techniques. Relative rate methods were used to measure k(Cl + CH3CHF2) = (2.37 +/- 0.31) x 10(-13) and k(OH + CH3CHF2) = (3.08 +/- 0.62) x 10(-14) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1). Reaction with Cl atoms gives CH3CF2 radicals in a yield of 99.2 +/- 0.1% and CH2CHF2 radicals in a yield of 0.8 +/- 0.1%. Reaction with OH radicals gives CH3CF2 radicals in a yield >75% and CH2CHF2 radicals in a yield <25%. Absolute rate data for the Cl reaction were measured using quantum-state selective LIF detection of Cl(2P(j)) atoms under pseudo-first-order conditions. The rate constant k(Cl + CH3CHF2) was determined to be (2.54 +/- 0.25) x 10(-13) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1) by the LIF technique, in good agreement with the relative rate results. The removal rate of spin-orbit excited-state Cl(2P(1/2)) (denoted Cl) in collisions with CH3CHF2 was determined to be k(Cl + CH3CHF2) = (2.21 +/- 0.22) x 10(-10) cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1). The atmospheric photooxidation products were examined in the presence and absence of NO(x). In the absence of NO(x)(), the Cl atom-initiated oxidation of CH3CHF2 in air leads to formation of COF2 in a molar yield of 97 +/- 5%. In the presence of NO(x), the observed oxidation products include COF2 and CH3COF. As [NO] increases, the yield of COF2 decreases while the yield of CH3COF increases, reflecting a competition for CH3CF2O radicals. The simplest explanation for the observed dependence of the CH3COF yield on [NO(x)] is that the atmospheric degradation of CH3CF2H proceeds via OH radical attack to give CH3CF2 radicals which add O2 to give CH3CF2O2 radicals. Reaction of CH3CF2O2 radicals with NO gives a substantial fraction of chemically activated alkoxy radicals, [CH3CF2O]. In 1 atm of air, approximately 30% of the alkoxy radicals produced in the CH3CF2O2 + NO reaction possess sufficient internal excitation to undergo "prompt" (rate >10(10) s(-1)) decomposition to give CH3 radicals and COF2. The remaining approximately 70% become thermalized, CH3CF2O, and undergo decomposition more slowly at a rate of approximately 2 x 10(3) s(-1). At high concentrations (>50 mTorr), NO(x) is an efficient scavenger for CH3CF2O radicals leading to the formation of CH3COF and FNO.

Ultraviolet photodissociation dynamics of the SH radical

Ultraviolet (UV) photodissociation dynamics of jet-cooled SH radical (in X 2pi(3/2), nu"=0-2) is studied in the photolysis wavelength region of 216-232 nm using high-n Rydberg atom time-of-flight technique. In this wavelength region, anisotropy beta parameter of the H-atom product is approximately -1, and spin-orbit branching fractions of the S(3P(J)) product are close to S(3P2):S(3P1):S(3P0)=0.51:0.36:0.13. The UV photolysis of SH is via a direct dissociation and is initiated on the repulsive 2sigma- potential-energy curve in the Franck-Condon region after the perpendicular transition 2sigma(-)-X 2pi. The S(3P(J)) product fine-structure state distribution approaches that in the sudden limit dissociation on the single repulsive 2sigma- state, but it is also affected by the nonadiabatic couplings among the repulsive 4sigma-, 2sigma-, and 4pi states, which redistribute the photodissociation flux from the initially excited 2sigma- state to the 4sigma- and 4pi states. The bond dissociation energy D0(S-H)=29,245+/-25 cm(-1) is obtained.

Photodissociation of HI and DI: Testing models for electronic structure via polarization of atomic photofragments

The photodissociation dynamics of HI and DI are examined using time-dependent wave-packet techniques. The orientation and alignment parameters aQ(K) (p) are determined as a function of photolysis energy for the resulting ground-state I(2P(3/2)) and excited-state I(2P(1/2)) atoms. The aQ(K) (p) parameters describe the coherent and incoherent contributions to the angular momentum distributions from the A 1pi(1), a 3pi(1), and t 3sigma(1) electronic states accessed by perpendicular excitation and the a 3pi(0+) state accessed by a parallel transition. The outcomes of the dynamics based on both shifted ab initio results and three empirical models for the potential-energy curves and transition dipole moments are compared and contrasted. It is demonstrated that experimental measurement of the aQ(K) (p) parameters for the excitation from the vibrational ground state (upsilon=0) would be able to distinguish between the available models for the HI potential-energy curves and transition dipole moments. The differences between the aQ(K) (p) parameters for the excitation from upsilon=0 stand in sharp contrast to the scalar properties, i.e., total cross section and I* branching fraction, which require experimental measurement of photodissociation from excited vibrational states (upsilon>0) to distinguish between the models.

Probing the barrier for CH2CHCO→CH2CH+CO by the velocity map imaging method

This work determines the dissociation barrier height for CH2CHCO --> CH2CH + CO using two-dimensional product velocity map imaging. The CH2CHCO radical is prepared under collision-free conditions from C-Cl bond fission in the photodissociation of acryloyl chloride at 235 nm. The nascent CH2CHCO radicals that do not dissociate to CH2CH + CO, about 73% of all the radicals produced, are detected using 157-nm photoionization. The Cl(2P(3/2)) and Cl(2P(1/2)) atomic fragments, momentum matched to both the stable and unstable radicals, are detected state selectively by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization at 235 nm. By comparing the total translational energy release distribution P(E(T)) derived from the measured recoil velocities of the Cl atoms with that derived from the momentum-matched radical cophotofragments which do not dissociate, the energy threshold at which the CH2CHCO radicals begin to dissociate is determined. Based on this energy threshold and conservation of energy, and using calculated C-Cl bond energies for the precursor to produce CH2CHC*O or C*H2CHCO, respectively, we have determined the forward dissociation barriers for the radical to dissociate to vinyl + CO. The experimentally determined barrier for CH2CHC*O --> CH2CH + CO is 21+/-2 kcal mol(-1), and the computed energy difference between the CH2CHC*O and the C*H2CHCO forms of the radical gives the corresponding barrier for C*H2CHCO --> CH2CH + CO to be 23+/-2 kcal mol(-1). This experimental determination is compared with predictions from electronic structure methods, including coupled-cluster, density-functional, and composite Gaussian-3-based methods. The comparison shows that density-functional theory predicts too low an energy for the C*H2CHCO radical, and thus too high a barrier energy, whereas both the Gaussian-3 and the coupled-cluster methods yield predictions in good agreement with experiment. The experiment also shows that acryloyl chloride can be used as a photolytic precursor at 235 nm of thermodynamically stable CH2CHC*O radicals, most with an internal energy distribution ranging from approximately 3 to approximately 21 kcal mol(-1). We discuss the results with respect to the prior work on the O(3P) + propargyl reaction and the analogous O(3P) + allyl system.

Kinetics of the Reactions of Cl*(2P1/2) and Cl(2P3/2) Atoms with CH3OH, C2H5OH, n-C3H7OH, and i-C3H7OH at 295 K

The title reactions were studied using laser flash photolysis/laser-induced-fluorescence (FP-LIF) techniques. The two spin-orbit states, Cl*(2P(1/2)) and Cl(2P(3/2)), were detected using LIF at 135.2 and 134.7 nm, respectively. Measured reaction rate constants were as follows (units of cm3 molecule(-1) s(-1)): k(Cl(2P(3/2))+CH3OH) = (5.35 +/- 0.24) x 10(-11), k(Cl(2P(3/2))+C2H5OH) = (9.50 +/- 0.85) x 10(-11), k(Cl(2P(3/2))+n-C3H7OH) = (1.71 +/- 0.11) x 10(-10), and k(Cl(2P(3/2))+i-C3H7OH) = (9.11 +/- 0.60) x 10(-11). Measured rate constants for total removal of Cl*(2P(1/2)) in collisions with CH3OH, C2H5OH, n-C3H7OH, and i-C3H7OH were (1.95 +/- 0.13) x 10(-10), (2.48 +/- 0.18) x 10(-10), (3.13 +/- 0.18) x 10(-10), and (2.84 +/- 0.16) x 10(-10), respectively; quoted errors are two-standard deviations. Although spin-orbit excited Cl*(2P(1/2)) atoms have 2.52 kcal/mol more energy than Cl(2P(3/2)), the rates of chemical reaction of Cl*(2P(1/2)) with CH3OH, C2H5OH, n-C3H7OH, and i-C3H7OH are only 60-90% of the corresponding Cl(2P(3/2)) atom reactions. Under ambient conditions spin-orbit excited Cl* atoms are responsible for 0.5%, 0.5%, 0.4%, and 0.7% of the observed reactivity of thermalized Cl atoms toward CH3OH, C2H5OH, n-C3H7OH, and i-C3H7OH, respectively.

Quantum Yields for Cl(2Pj) Atom Formation from the Photolysis of Chlorofluorocarbons and Chlorinated Hydrocarbons at 193.3 nm

Cl(2P(3/2)) and Cl*(2P(1/2)) atoms produced from the photodissociation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and chlorinated hydrocarbons at 193.3 nm have been detected quantitatively by a technique of vacuum ultraviolet laser-induced fluorescence (VUV-LIF) spectroscopy at 135.2 and 134.7 nm for j = 1/2 and 3/2, respectively. The quantum yields for total Cl-atom formation in the 193.3 nm photolysis at 295 +/- 2 K have been determined to be 1.03 +/- 0.09, 1.01 +/- 0.08, 1.03 +/- 0.08, 1.03 +/- 0.10, 1.41 +/- 0.14, 1.02 +/- 0.08, and 0.98 +/- 0.08 for CF2Cl2, CFCl3, CH2Cl2, CHCl3, CCl4, CHFCl2, and CCl3CF3, respectively. Those results suggest that the single C-Cl bond rupture always occurs in the photolysis of these molecules except for CCl4. Formation of two Cl atoms partly takes place in the photodissociation of CCl4. The quantum yields for total Cl-atom formation in the 193.3 nm photolysis of CHBr2Cl and CHBrClCF3 are 0.27 +/- 0.02 and 0.28 +/- 0.02, respectively, which suggests that the C-Br bond rupture is a main channel in the photodissociation processes. The branching ratios between the spin-orbit states, Cl*(2P(1/2)) and Cl(2P(3/2)), have also been determined for the photodissociation of the chlorinated compounds at 193.3 nm. The UV photodissociation processes giving rise to formation of Cl(2P(j)) atoms from the chlorinated compounds studied here have been discussed.

Pulsed-Laser Production and Detection of Spin-Polarized Hydrogen Atoms

Spin-polarized hydrogen (SPH) atoms have traditionally been produced and detected using complex experimental methods with poor time resolution. Recently, SPH has been produced by pulsed-laser photodissociation of HCl using circularly polarized light. In combination with the proposed detection of SPH via polarized fluorescence, this approach should allow the production and spatially resolved detection of SPH with a higher sensitivity than that currently available, and with a time resolution in the nanosecond regime. This represents an improvement of several orders of magnitude over the existing methods.

C–Cl bond fission dynamics and angular momentum recoupling in the 235 nm photodissociation of allyl chloride

The photodissociation dynamics of allyl chloride at 235 nm producing atomic Cl((2)P(J);J=1/2,3/2) fragments is investigated using a two-dimensional photofragment velocity ion imaging technique. Detection of the Cl((2)P(1/2)) and Cl((2)P(3/2)) products by [2+1] resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization shows that primary C-Cl bond fission of allyl chloride generates 66.8% Cl((2)P(3/2)) and 33.2% Cl((2)P(1/2)). The Cl((2)P(3/2)) fragments evidenced a bimodal translational energy distribution with a relative weight of low kinetic energy Cl((2)P(3/2))/high kinetic energy Cl((2)P(3/2)) of 0.097/0.903. The minor dissociation channel for C-Cl bond fission, producing low kinetic energy chlorine atoms, formed only chlorine atoms in the Cl((2)P(3/2)) spin-orbit state. The dominant C-Cl bond fission channel, attributed to an electronic predissociation that results in high kinetic energy Cl atoms, produced both Cl((2)P(1/2)) and Cl((2)P(3/2)) atomic fragments. The relative branching for this dissociation channel is Cl((2)P(1/2))/[Cl((2)P(1/2))+Cl((2)P(3/2))]=35.5%. The average fraction of available energy imparted into product recoil for the high kinetic energy products was found to be 59%, in qualitative agreement with that predicted by a rigid radical impulsive model. Both the spin-orbit ground and excited chlorine atom angular distributions were close to isotropic. We compare the observed Cl((2)P(1/2))/[Cl((2)P(1/2))+Cl((2)P(3/2))] ratio produced in the electronic predissociation channel of allyl chloride with a prior study of the chlorine atom spin-orbit states produced from HCl photodissociation, concluding that angular momentum recoupling in the exit channel at long interatomic distance determines the chlorine atom spin-orbit branching.

Spin-polarized hydrogen atoms from molecular photodissociation

The production of spin-polarized hydrogen atoms from the photodissociation of hydrogen chloride with circularly polarized 193-nanometer light is inferred from the measurement of the complete angular momentum distributions of ground state Cl(2P3/2)and excited state Cl(2P1/2)cofragments by slice imaging. The experimentally measured and ab initio predicted a q(k) (p)parameters, which describe the single-surface and multiple-surface-interference contributions to the angular momentum distributions, are in excellent agreement. For laser pulses longer than about 0.7 ns, the polarization of the electron and the proton are both 36%.

State-resolved dynamics of photofragmentation

We discuss experiments on the dynamics of photodissociation that employ methods to select the energy, sometimes quantum states, of the reactant and to determine the quantum states and energy, sometimes also the orientation and alignment, of products. A summary of new advances of experimental methods is followed by applications to photodissociation of various types. Representative examples of simple bond fission, molecular elimination, and three-body dissociation with determined electronic states-sometimes the orientation of their angular momentum-of product atoms or distributions of electronic and internal states of product molecules illustrate the detailed information and insight that one can derive from such experiments. Photodissociation of van der Waals complexes, ions, species adsorbed on surfaces, and species in solution is excluded from this review.