The dynamic role of the conical intersection “seam” coordinate has been first revealed in the H fragmentation reaction of ortho(o)-cresol conformers. One of the (3N – 8) dimensional seam coordinates of the S1(ππ*)/S2(πσ*) conical intersection has been identified as the CH3 torsional potential function. The tunneling dynamics of the reactive flux is dictated by its nuclear layout with respect to the CH3 torsional angle, as the multidimensional tunneling barrier is dynamically shaped along the conical intersection seam. The effective tunneling-barrier weight-averaged over the quantum-mechanical probability along the CH3 torsional angle perfectly explains the experimental finding: the sharp variation of the tunneling rate ((700–400) ps–1) with the CH3 torsional mode excitations within the narrow (0–100 cm–1) energetic window. The much longer S1 lifetime of cis compared to trans is ascribed to the higher-lying S1/S2 conical intersection of the former. With the use of distinct lifetimes, vibronic bands of each conformer could be completely separated.
Vibronic spectroscopy and the S–H bond predissociation dynamics of 2-methoxythiophenol (2-MTP) in the S1 (ππ*) state have been investigated for the first time. Resonant two-photon ionization and slow-electron velocity map imaging (SEVI) spectroscopies have revealed that the S1–S0 transition of 2-MTP is accompanied with the planar to the pseudoplanar structural change along the out-of-plane ring distortion and the tilt of the methoxy moiety. The S1 vibronic bands up to their internal energy of ∼1000 cm−1 are assigned from the SEVI spectra taken via various S1 vibronic intermediate states with the aid of ab initio calculations. Intriguingly, Fermi resonances have been identified for some vibronic bands. The S–H bond breakage of 2-MTP occurs via tunneling through an adiabatic barrier under the S1/S2 conical intersection seam, and it is followed by the bifurcation into either the adiabatic or nonadiabatic channel at the S0/S2 conical intersection where the diabatic S2 state (πσ*) is unbound with respect to the S–H bond elongation coordinate, giving the excited (Ã) or ground (X̃) state of the 2-methoxythiophenoxy radical, respectively. Surprisingly, the nonadiabatic transition probability at the S0/S2 conical intersection, estimated from the velocity map ion images of the nascent D fragment from 2-MTP-d1 (2-CH3O–C6H4SD) at the S1 zero-point energy level, is found to be exceptionally high to give the X̃/Ã product branching ratio of 2.03 ± 0.20, which is much higher than the value of ∼0.8 estimated for the bare thiophenol at the S1 origin. It even increases to 2.33 ± 0.17 at the ν452 mode (101 cm−1) before it rapidly decays to 0.69 ± 0.05 at the S1 internal energy of about 2200 cm−1. This suggests that the strong intramolecular hydrogen bonding of S⋯D⋯OCH3 in 2-MTP at least in the low S1 internal energy region should play a significant role in localizing the reactive flux onto the conical intersection seam. The minimum energy pathway calculations (second-order coupled-cluster resolution of the identity or time-dependent-density functional theory) of the adiabatic S1 state suggest that the intimate dynamic interplay between the S–H bond cleavage and intramolecular hydrogen bonding could be crucial in the nonadiabatic surface hopping dynamics taking place at the conical intersection.
Conformational isomers of hydroquinone and their 1:1 clusters with water have been spatially separated using a Stark deflector in a supersonic jet. trans-Hydroquinone (HyQ) conformer with zero dipole moment is little influenced by inhomogeneous electric fields, whereas cis conformer with nonzero dipole moment (2.38 D) is significantly deflected from the molecular beam axis into the direction along which the strong field gradient is applied. Resonant two photon ionization carried out by shifting the laser position perpendicular to the molecular beam axis after the Stark deflector then gives an exclusive S-S excitation spectrum of the cis conformer only, making possible immaculate conformer-specific spectroscopy and dynamics. As the spatial separation is apparently proportional to the effective dipole moment strength, conformational assignment could be absolute in the Stark deflector, which contrasts with the hole-burning spectroscopic technique where identification of a conformational isomer is intrinsically not unambiguous. trans- and cis-HyQ-HO clusters have also been spatially separated according to their distinct effective dipole moment strengths to give absolute spectroscopic identification of each cluster isomer, nailing down the otherwise disputable conformational assignment. This is the first report for the spatial separation of conformational cluster isomers.
The S–H bond tunneling predissociation dynamics of thiophenol and its ortho-substituted derivatives (2-fluorothiophenol, 2-methoxythiophenol, and 2-chlorothiphenol) in S1 (ππ*) where the H atom tunneling is mediated by the nearby S2 (πσ*) state (which is repulsive along the S–H bond extension coordinate) have been investigated in a state-specific way using the picosecond time-resolved pump–probe spectroscopy for the jet-cooled molecules. The effects of the specific vibrational mode excitations and the SH/SD substitutions on the S–H(D) bond rupture tunneling dynamics have been interrogated, giving deep insights into the multidimensional aspects of the S1/S2 conical intersection, which also shapes the underlying adiabatic tunneling potential energy surfaces (PESs). The semiclassical tunneling rate calculations based on the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (WKB) approximation or Zhu–Nakamura (ZN) theory have been carried out based on the ab initio PESs calculated in the (one, two, or three) reduced dimensions to be compared with the experiment. Though the quantitative experimental results could not be reproduced satisfactorily by the present calculations, the qualitative trends among different molecules in terms of the behavior of the tunneling rate versus the (adiabatic) barrier height or the number of PES dimensions could be rationalized. Most interestingly, the H/D kinetic isotope effect observed in the tunneling rate could be much better explained by the ZN theory compared to the WKB approximation, indicating that the nonadiabatic coupling matrix elements should be invoked for understanding the tunneling dynamics taking place in the proximity of the conical intersection.
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