Reagent Orientation and Electron Transfer Dynamics

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In this project funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry program of the Chemistry Division, Brooks will study electron donor-electron acceptor systems in a crossed molecular-beam machine under conditions in which the energy and orientation of the acceptor species are controlled. Energetic donor atoms will be crossed with molecules which have been oriented using electrostatic fields. Ions produced by electron transfer will be mass analyzed using coincidence time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS), and threshold energies for formation of various ions will be measured. Such data will provide information about electron affinities and bond dissociation energies, and will help explain how electrons are transferred between chemical species. The transfer of an electron from one atom or molecule to another initiates a wide variety of chemical reactions, from those occurring in electrolytic cells to photosynthesis and combustion. Although the rates of many of these reactions correlate well with other data using a theory developed by Nobel-prize winning chemist Rudolph Marcus, direct information about the electron transfer itself is missing. This project will help illuminate the nature of the pathway an electron takes when undergoing these types of reactive transfers.