Coordinated Study of Isomerization Reactions in Isolated Molecules and Molecules in Solution

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Brooks Pate of the University of Virginia is supported by a grant from the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program to develop a new molecular beam spectrometer and to use it to study gas phase isomerization initiated by vibrational laser excitation. Isomerization rates will be determined using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. These data will be used to test dynamical theories. The studies will be augmented by studies of isomerization in solution using two-color, time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy and a comparison will be made to distinguish solvent effects. Isomerization will be studied for a series of systems with two and three (epoxides) conformational minima and for systems (terminal chloroalkynes and linear aldehydes) with multiple isomerization coordinates.Isomerization, the change in structure of an isolated molecule, greatly effects chemical reactivity, a feature that is exploited by long chain molecules and in biological systems. Isomerization is to be studied by advanced spectroscopic techniques in both the gas and solution phases to test theoretical models and to determine the influence of the solvent on the reactivity.