Greg T. Dunning

Vibrational relaxation and microsolvation of DF after F-atom reactions in polar solvents

Deuterium fluoride gets born shivering Modern spectroscopic techniques can analyze collisions between gas phase molecules in exquisite detail, highlighting exactly which vibrations and rotations come into play. However, much chemistry of interest takes place in solution, where its harder to tease out what happens. Dunning et al. applied infrared spectroscopy to study solution-phase formation of deuterium fluoride (DF) from F atoms, a longstanding test bed of gas phase dynamics. The DF product vibrated for a surprisingly long time before dissipating its energy to the surrounding solvent molecules. Science, this issue p. 530 Infrared spectroscopy reveals the dynamics of vibrational energy flow from product to solvent in a bimolecular reaction. Solvent-solute interactions influence the mechanisms of chemical reactions in solution, but the response of the solvent is often slower than the reactive event. Here, we report that exothermic reactions of fluorine (F) atoms in d3-acetonitrile and d2-dichloromethane involve efficient energy flow to vibrational motion of the deuterium fluoride (DF) product that competes with dissipation of the energy to the solvent bath, despite strong solvent coupling. Transient infrared absorption spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations show that after DF forms its first hydrogen bond on a subpicosecond time scale, DF vibrational relaxation and further solvent restructuring occur over more than 10 picoseconds. Characteristic dynamics of gas-phase F-atom reactions with hydrogen-containing molecules persist in polar organic solvents, and the spectral evolution of the DF products serves as a probe of solvent reorganization induced by a chemical reaction.

Direct and Indirect Hydrogen Abstraction in Cl + Alkene Reactions

Reactions between Cl atoms and propene can lead to HCl formation either by direct H abstraction or through a chloropropyl addition complex. Barring stabilizing collisions, the chloropropyl radical will either decompose to reactants or form HCl and allyl products. Using velocity-map imaging to measure the quantum state and velocity of the HCl products provides a view into the reaction dynamics, which show signs of both direct and indirect reaction mechanisms. Simulated trajectories of the reaction highlight the role of the direct H-abstraction pathways, and the resultant simulated scattering images show reasonable agreement with measurement. The simulations also show the importance of large excursions of the Cl atom far from equilibrium geometries within the chloropropyl complex, and these large-amplitude motions are the ultimate drivers toward HCl + allyl fragmentation. Gas-phase measurements of larger alkenes, 2-methylpropene and 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene, show slightly different product distributions but still feature similar reaction dynamics. The current suite of experiments offers ready extensions to liquid-phase bimolecular reactions.

Photoisomerization and photoinduced reactions in liquid CCl4 and CHCl3.

Transient absorption spectroscopy is used to follow the reactive intermediates involved in the first steps in the photochemistry initiated by ultraviolet (266-nm wavelength) excitation of solutions of 1,5-hexadiene, isoprene, and 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene in carbon tetrachloride or chloroform. Ultraviolet and visible bands centered close to 330 and 500 nm in both solvents are assigned respectively to a charge transfer band of Cl-solvent complexes and the strong absorption band of a higher energy isomeric form of the solvent molecules (iso-CCl3-Cl or iso-CHCl2-Cl). These assignments are supported by calculations of electronic excitation energies. The isomeric forms have significant contributions to their structures from charge-separated resonance forms and offer a reinterpretation of previous assignments of the carriers of the visible bands that were based on pulsed radiolysis experiments. Kinetic analysis demonstrates that the isomeric forms are produced via the Cl-solvent complexes. Addition of the unsaturated hydrocarbons provides a reactive loss channel for the Cl-solvent complexes, and reaction radii and bimolecular rate coefficients are derived from analysis using a Smoluchowski theory model. For reactions of Cl with 1,5-hexadiene, isoprene, and 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene in CCl4, rate coefficients at 294 K are, respectively, (8.6 ± 0.8) × 10(9), (9.5 ± 1.6) × 10(9), and (1.7 ± 0.1) × 10(10) M(-1) s(-1). The larger reaction radius and rate coefficient for 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene are interpreted as evidence for an H-atom abstraction channel that competes effectively with the channel involving addition of a Cl-atom to a C═C bond. However, the addition mechanism appears to dominate the reactions of 1,5-hexadiene and isoprene. Two-photon excited CCl4 or CHCl3 can also ionize the diene or alkene solute.

Vibrationally resolved dynamics of the reaction of Cl atoms with 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene in chlorinated solvents

Broadband transient infra-red absorption measurements are reported that contrast the dynamics of reaction of Cl atoms with 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene and n-pentane in chlorinated solvents. In both cases, H-atom transfer produces HCl and a hydrocarbon radical, but the energy release in the former reaction is greater because of the formation of a resonance-stabilized allylic radical. The reaction of Cl atoms with n-pentane in solution in CH2Cl2 forms HCl exclusively in its lowest vibrational level (v = 0), and our measured rate coefficient agrees with a prior report by Sheps et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2006, 110, 3087. The time-dependence of the growth of intensity in the HCl fundamental absorption band shows two domains of reaction: a prompt rise is associated with reaction of the photolytically generated Cl atoms with n-pentane molecules lying within the first solvent shell, whereas a slower further rise is attributed to reaction following diffusion through the solution. For the reaction of Cl atoms with 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene, these two domains of reaction are also observed, and fitting to a kinetic model incorporating these components gives bimolecular rate coefficients for formation of HCl of (1.7 ± 1.4) × 1010 M−1 s−1 in CDCl3 and (3.4 ± 1.2) × 1010 M−1 s−1 in CCl4. However, an additional transient absorption is observed ∼115 cm−1 lower in wavenumber than the fundamental HCl absorption band and is assigned to the v = 2 ← v = 1 hot band of HCl. The absorption by the nascent HCl(v = 1) peaks after ∼20 ps and subsequently decays to baseline levels because of vibrational relaxation, which is shown to be enhanced by energy transfer to 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene. In solution in CDCl3, the fraction of HCl formed initially in v = 1 is determined to be 0.24 ± 0.04 and in CCl4 it is 0.15 ± 0.02. The branching to HCl(v = 1) for these reactions in solution is significantly lower than the 0.48 ± 0.06 fraction reported for reaction of Cl atoms with propene in the gas phase [Pilgrim and Taatjes, J. Phys. Chem. A, 1997, 101, 5776]. This comparison between similar bimolecular reactions in solution and in the gas phase therefore identifies changes to the dynamics caused by interaction with the solvent. Solvent friction experienced by the separating products of the reaction is considered more likely to be responsible for the lower vibrational excitation of the nascent HCl than is solvent modification of the topology of the potential energy surface in the vicinity of the transition state. Possible consequences of addition of Cl to the unsaturated bond in 2,3-dimethylbut-2-ene are also discussed.

Empirical Valence Bond Theory Studies of the CH4 + Cl → CH3 + HCl Reaction.

We report a theoretical investigation of the CH4 + Cl hydrogen abstraction reaction in the framework of empirical valence bond (EVB) theory. The main purpose of this study is to benchmark the EVB method against previous experimental and theoretical work. Analytical potential energy surfaces for the reaction have been developed on which quasi-classical trajectory calculations were carried out. The surfaces agree well with ab initio calculations at stationary points along the reaction path and dynamically relevant regions outside the reaction path. The analysis of dynamical data obtained using the EVB method, such as vibrational, rotational, and angular distribution functions, shows that this method compares well to both experimental measurements and higher-level theoretical calculations, with the additional benefit of low computational cost.

Vibrational Excitation of Both Products of the Reaction of CN Radicals with Acetone in Solution

Transient electronic and vibrational absorption spectroscopy unravel the mechanisms and dynamics of bimolecular reactions of CN radicals with acetone in deuterated chloroform solutions. The CN radicals are produced by ultrafast ultraviolet photolysis of dissolved ICN. Two reactive forms of CN radicals are distinguished by their electronic absorption bands: “free” (uncomplexed) CN radicals, and “solvated” CN radicals that are complexed with solvent molecules. The lifetimes of the free CN radicals are limited to a few picoseconds following their photolytic production because of geminate recombination to ICN and INC, complexation with CDCl3 molecules, and reaction with acetone. The acetone reaction occurs with a rate coefficient of (8.0 ± 0.5) × 1010 M–1 s–1 and transient vibrational spectra in the C=N and C=O stretching regions reveal that both the nascent HCN and 2-oxopropyl (CH3C(O)CH2) radical products are vibrationally excited. The rate coefficient for the reaction of solvated CN with acetone is 40 times slower than for free CN, with a rate coefficient of (2.0 ± 0.9) × 109 M–1 s–1 obtained from the rise in the HCN product v1(C=N stretch) IR absorption band. Evidence is also presented for CN complexes with acetone that are more strongly bound than the CN–CDCl3 complexes because of CN interactions with the carbonyl group. The rates of reactions of these more strongly associated radicals are slower still.

Dynamics of photodissociation of XeF2 in organic solvents

Transient electronic absorption measurements with 1 ps time resolution follow XeF2 photoproducts in acetonitrile and chlorinated solvents. Ultraviolet light near 266 nm promptly breaks one Xe-F bond, and probe light covering 320-700 nm monitors the products. Some of the cleaved F atoms remain in close proximity to an XeF fragment and perturb the electronic states of XeF. The time evolution of a perturbed spectral feature is used to monitor the FXe-F complex population, which decays in less than 5 ps. Decay can occur through geminate recombination, diffusive separation or reaction of the complex with the solvent.