Femtosecond Studies of Chemical Reaction Dynamics in Liquids

加州大学伯克利分校的查尔斯·哈里斯得到了无机、生物无机和有机化学项目的支持，研究相当复杂的有机金属反应的动力学（在飞秒时间尺度上）和内在机制。使用飞秒红外光谱加上高压技术，各种复杂的化学反应的密切机制将得到阐明。将特别注意溶剂分子在这些反应中的作用。最初的兴趣将集中在选择性C-H和Si-H键断裂的过渡金属络合物的激活。还将研究各种更复杂的反应，包括炔聚合。 反应动力学将解释与随机动态模拟的帮助。一些理论方法，包括从头计算和密度泛函方法，将被应用到中间体的表征。这项研究将溶液相无机反应的密切机理研究的时间范围扩大了几个数量级。用其他方法测量的瞬时反应的细节将受到审查。这种迄今为止无法达到的化学变化处于反应网络的关键点，而这些反应在许多科学和技术领域中具有核心重要性。这一研究可能具有重要意义的主题的具体例子包括研究生物过程的机制，如光合作用和呼吸作用，以及在化学工业中具有核心重要性的金属催化聚合的改进。

Charles Harris of the University of California, Berkeley is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program for research on the kinetics (at the femto-second time scale) and the intimate mechanisms of rather complex organometallic reactions. Using femtosecond infrared spectroscopy coupled with high pressure techniques, the intimate mechanisms of a variety of complex chemical reactions will be elucidated. Special attention will be paid to the role of solvent molecules in these reactions. Initial interest will be centered on the activation by transition metal complexes of selective C-H and Si-H bond ruptures. A variety of more complex reactions, including alkyne polymerization, will also be examined. Reaction dynamics will be interpreted with the aid of stochastic dynamic simulations. Several theoretical methods, including ab initio calculations and density functional methods, will be applied to characterization of intermediates. This research is extending the time range accessible in the study of the intimate mechanisms of solution-phase inorganic reactions by several orders of magnitude. The details of reactions that are instantaneous by other measures will be brought under examination. Such heretofore inaccessible chemical changes stand at critical points in networks of reactions that are of central importance in many scientific and technological areas. Specific examples of topics where this research may have great importance include studies of the mechanisms of biological processes such as photosynthesis and respiration, and also improvement of metal-catalyzed polymerizations that are of central importance in the chemical industry.