Bernadette M. Broderick

Visible/Infrared Dissociation of NO3: Roaming in the Dark or Roaming on the Ground?

We present a DC slice imaging study of roaming dynamics in the photodissociation of the nitrate radical, NO3, contrasting pure visible excitation with a combination of visible and CO2 laser excitation at 10.6 μm. Images of specific rotational levels of NO are seen to reflect dissociation on the ground and first excited electronic states, as reported in previous work. The branching is obtained for specific rotational levels by comparison to quasiclassical trajectory calculations of the dynamics on these two surfaces. The results for the visible dissociation are found to be very similar to the combination of visible and infrared, raising questions about the nature of the coupling of these surfaces, the extent to which roaming takes place on both, and how the final product branching is determined.

Spin-polarized hydrogen Rydberg time-of-flight: Experimental measurement of the velocity-dependent H atom spin-polarization

We have developed a new experimental method allowing direct detection of the velocity dependent spin-polarization of hydrogen atoms produced in photodissociation. The technique, which is a variation on the H atom Rydberg time-of-flight method, employs a double-resonance excitation scheme and experimental geometry that yields the two coherent orientation parameters as a function of recoil speed for scattering perpendicular to the laser propagation direction. The approach, apparatus, and optical layout we employ are described here in detail and demonstrated in application to HBr and DBr photolysis at 213 nm. We also discuss the theoretical foundation for the approach, as well as the resolution and sensitivity we achieve.

Infrared Spectroscopy of the Tropyl Radical in Helium Droplets

The infrared spectrum of the X2E2″ tropyl radical has been recorded in the range of the CH-stretch vibrational modes using the helium droplet isolation technique. Two bands are observed at 3053 and 3058 cm–1. The electronic degeneracy of the ground state results in a Jahn–Teller interaction for two of the CH-stretch modes, i.e., first-order interaction for E3′ symmetry modes and second-order interaction for E2′ symmetry modes. The experimentally observed bands are assigned to the E1′ and E3′ CH-stretch modes. The E1′ mode is infrared-active, whereas the E3′ mode is inactive in the absence of the Jahn–Teller interaction. The transition to the upper component of the Jahn–Teller split E3′ mode gains intensity via vibronic coupling, giving rise to the second experimentally observed band.

Reactive intermediates in 4He nanodroplets: Infrared laser Stark spectroscopy of dihydroxycarbene

Singlet dihydroxycarbene (HOC̈OH) is produced via pyrolytic decomposition of oxalic acid, captured by helium nanodroplets, and probed with infrared laser Stark spectroscopy. Rovibrational bands in the OH stretch region are assigned to either trans,trans- or trans,cis-rotamers on the basis of symmetry type, nuclear spin statistical weights, and comparisons to electronic structure theory calculations. Stark spectroscopy provides the inertial components of the permanent electric dipole moments for these rotamers. The dipole components for trans, trans- and trans, cis-rotamers are (μa, μb) = (0.00, 0.68(6)) and (1.63(3), 1.50(5)), respectively. The infrared spectra lack evidence for the higher energy cis,cis-rotamer, which is consistent with a previously proposed pyrolytic decomposition mechanism of oxalic acid and computations of HOC̈OH torsional interconversion and tautomerization barriers.

Direct Versus Indirect Photodissociation of Isoxazole From Product Branching: A Chirped-Pulse Fourier Transform Mm-Wave Spectroscopy/Pulsed Uniform Flow Investigation

The UV photodissociation of isoxazole (c-C3H3NO) is studied in this work by chirped-pulse Fourier transform mm-wave spectroscopy in a pulsed uniform Laval flow. This approach offers a number of advantages over traditional spectroscopic detection methods due to its broadband, sub-MHz resolution, and fast-acquisition capabilities. In coupling this technique with a quasi-uniform Laval flow, we are able to obtain product branching fractions in the 193 nm photodissociation of isoxazole. Five dissociation channels are explored through direct detection of seven different photoproducts. These species and their respective branching fractions (%) include the following: HCN (53.8 ± 1.7), CH3CN (23.4 ± 6.8), HCO (9.5 ± 2.3), CH2CN (7.8 ± 2.9), CH2CO (3.8 ± 0.9), HCCCN (0.9 ± 0.2), and HNC (0.8 ± 0.2). Guided by previous electronic structure and dynamics simulations, we are able to elucidate the dissociation dynamics that govern the final product branching fractions observed in this work, which differ significantly from previous reports on the thermal decomposition of isoxazole. Interestingly, both direct and indirect dynamics contribute to its dissociation, and clear signatures of both are manifested in the relative branching ratios obtained. Consistent with previous studies on the unimolecular dissociation of isoxazole, our findings also suggest the importance of the open-shell singlet diradicaloid species vinylnitrene in the dissociation dynamics, regardless of the initially populated excited state. This work, taken together with previous investigations, provides a global picture of the complex dissociation pathways involved in the photodissociation of isoxazole.

VIBRATIONAL-TORSIONAL COUPLING REVEALED IN THE INFRARED SPECTRUM OF HE-SOLVATED n-PROPYL RADICAL

The n-propyl and i-propyl radicals were generated in the gas phase via pyrolysis of n-butyl nitrite (CH3(CH2)3ONO) and i-butyl nitrite (CH3CH(CH3)CH2ONO) precursors, respectively. Nascent radicals were promptly solvated by a beam of He nanodroplets, and the infrared spectra of the radicals were recorded in the C-H stretching region. In addition to three vibrations of n-propyl previously measured in an Ar matrix,a we observe many unreported bands between 2800 and 3150 cm−1, which we attribute to propyl radicals. The C-H stretching modes observed above 2960 cm−1 for both radicals are in excellent agreement with anharmonic frequencies computed using VPT2. Between 2800 and 2960 cm−1, however, the spectra of n-propyl and i-propyl radicals become quite congested and difficult to assign due to the presence of multiple anharmonic resonances. Computations reveal the likely origin of the spectral congestion to be strong coupling between the high frequency C-H stretching modes and a lower frequency torsional motion, which modulates quite substantially a through-space hyperconjugation interaction.