Timothy M. Korter

On the additivity of bond dipole moments. Stark effect studies of the rotationally resolved electronic spectra of aniline, benzonitrile, and aminobenzonitrile

We study the influence of an applied electric field on the fully resolved electronic spectra of aniline (AN), benzonitrile (BN), and 4-aminobenzonitrile (ABN) in the gas phase. Using these data, we test the commonly held but rarely proven assumption that the total dipole moment of a polyatomic molecule is the vector sum of bond dipole moments, localized in different parts of the molecule. We find that μa(ABN)≈μa(AN)+μa(BN) in the excited S1 state, but not in the ground S0 state. Possible reasons for this non-additivity are discussed.

Experimental measurement of the induced dipole moment of an isolated molecule in its ground and electronically excited states : Indole and indole-H2O

Reported here are measurements of the magnitude and orientation of the induced dipole moment that is produced when an indole molecule in its ground S(0) and electronically excited S(1) states is polarized by the attachment of a hydrogen bonded water molecule in the gas phase complex indole-H(2)O. For the complex, we find the permanent dipole moment values mu(IW)(S(0)) = 4.4 D and mu(IW)(S(1)) = 4.0 D, values that are substantially different from calculated values based on vector sums of the dipole moments of the component parts. From this result, we derive the induced dipole moment values mu(I) (*)(S(0)) = 0.7 D and mu(I) (*)(S(1)) = 0.5 D. The orientation of the induced moment also is significantly different in the two electronic states. These results are quantitatively reproduced by a purely electrostatic calculation based on ab initio values of multipole moments.

Tryptamine in the gas phase. A high resolution laser study of the structural and dynamic properties of its ground and electronically excited states

High resolution S1←S0 fluorescence excitation spectra of tryptamine have been observed in the collision-free environment of a supersonic molecular beam. Each origin band has been assigned to a unique conformer of the isolated molecule based on its observed rotational constants. For the first time, subbands have been detected in the rotationally resolved spectra of bands Cblue and D. A possible hindered motion is proposed to account for the appearance of these subbands. This motion connects the minima associated with the Antipy and Antiph conformers, and thus explores new regions of the energy landscape of this important biomolecule.

Photoinduced changes in the structure of a van der Waals complex. Three-dimensional inertial axis reorientation in the S1←S0 electronic spectrum of indole-Ar

Rotationally resolved S1←S0 electronic spectra of the van der Waals complexes indole-Ar and N-deuterated-indole-Ar in the gas phase are described. Both spectra exhibit inertial axis reorientation. A comparison of the parameters derived from fits of the two spectra with those obtained from a previous study of the bare molecule [Berden et al., J. Chem. Phys. 103, 9596 (1995)] shows that the Ar atom in indole-Ar is attached above the indole plane, displaced toward the N atom in the five-membered ring, in both electronic states. However, the measured center-of-mass coordinates of the Ar atom in the principal axis frames of indole in the two states are different, leading to the observed axis reorientation in the high resolution spectra. The S1 state in indole itself is shown to be the 1Lb state, which has a different electronic distribution from that of the ground state. Thus, the Ar atom “moves” when the photon is absorbed because there are significant differences in the intermolecular potential energy surfac...