Dynamics of Electronically Excited States. Models for Chemical Reactivity

在这个由匹兹堡大学的David Pratt教授主持的项目中，化学学部的物理化学项目支持有关弱结合复合物的结构和作用力、分子内能量流动机制和化学反应途径等基本问题的实验研究。利用高分辨率紫外光谱测定了激发态的性质，并讨论了化学反应的动力学问题。在分子水平上理解化学反应的基本原理是目前物理化学的前沿。一旦一个分子充满了高振动能量和电子能量，它就可以在无反应的过程中释放这些能量，它可以分解成碎片，或者它可以与其他分子反应形成新的分子。如果这些单独过程的细节被知道和理解，反应就可以被引导到首选的方向。确定这种详细的，分子水平的了解物种的化学兴趣是这个研究项目的目标。

In this project by Prof. David Pratt of the University of Pittsburgh, the Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division supports experimental research on fundamental questions concerning the structures and forces at work in weakly bound complexes, mechanisms of intramolecular energy flow, and chemical reaction pathways. By means of high resolution ultraviolet spectroscopy the properties of excited electronic states are determined and questions of the dynamics of chemical reactions are addressed. %%% Understanding the fundamentals of chemical reactions on a molecular level is at the current frontier of physical chemistry. Once a molecule is enriched with high vibrational and electronic energy, it can shed this energy in a reactionless process, it can dissociate into fragments, or it can react with other molecules to form new ones. If the details of these individual processes are known and understood, reactions could be steered into preferred directions. The determination of such detailed, molecular level understanding for species of chemical interest is the goal of this research project.