Laser Pump-probe Studies of Reaction Dynamics from One Picosecond to Nanoseconds

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The Experimental Physical Chemistry Program supports Prof. J. D. McDonald of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in his investigations on reaction dynamics. Specifically, Prof. McDonald will use a pump-probe technique to study the dynamics of bimolecular chemical reactions on a picosecond timescale. Reactants are van der Waals adducts formed in a cooled molecular beam, and intermediates and/or products will be detected using either time-of-flight mass spectrometry or laser-induced fluorescence. In addition, reaction processes will be modeled by classical trajectory calculations or statistical theories. Typical reactions to be investigated include rearrangements or decomposition of adducts formed by addition of chlorine or oxygen atoms to unsaturated hydrocarbon molecules. The results of this work are of great value to the understanding and modeling of reactions which are important in combustion processes and in the chemistry of the atmosphere. Oxygen atom reactions are very important in both these complex systems, and chlorine atoms are important in the upper atmosphere.