Spectroscopic Studies of Anion Hydration and Intracluster Photoreactions

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Mark A. Johnson of Yale University is funded for his research on spectroscopic studies of anion hydration and intracluster photoreactions by the Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division. Survey spectra of band origins via a mass-selected argon matrix isolation scheme will be recorded and analyzed. The clusters studied will be grown in an argon cluster and mass selected before its spectrum is scanned with an IR laser. When the laser is tuned to a resonance of the embedded complex, the absorpotion of a photon leads to heating. Evaporation of several argon atoms leads to cooling. Mass is readily determined by mass spectrometry. The structure and assembly mechanism for hydration and small water network formation around dihalides, trihalides, and organic functional groups such as carboxylates will be elucidated in such survey spectra. The fine structure hidden beneath argon-mediated spectra at rotational resolution will be obtained by using two-color laser methods, and the rotational structure will be used to refine the structures of the complexes. The solvation of anions by water molecules is one of the most basic aspects of physical chemistry and an extremely important phenomenon in nature and everyday life (e.g., the use of salt to clear highways of snow and ice is an important public safety issue in the northeast). The detailed and simple hydration reactions that will be studied will greatly advance our understanding of hydration chemistry and how to study similar complexes and chemistry involving other compounds.