A New View of the Norrish Type II Elimination: Product Rotational State Distributions

摘要

Investigation of the patterns of reaction product internal energy release is an important tool in developing a fundamental understanding of the molecular-level mechanisms of reactions and, in particular, revealing insight into the details of the relevant potential energy surfaces (PES). Photochemical reactions which produce simple products have been the focus of a great deal of attention. Our goal is to investigate the dynamics of reactions which produce polyatomic species, such as the well-known Norrish Type II elimination. Reported here is the first study of Norrish Type n photodissociation dynamics. Relative populations were determined for selected rotational states of HCOOH produced in the 222-nm photolysis of isobutyl formate as shown in reaction 1.