High-resolution infrared spectroscopy: Jet-cooled halogenated methyl radicals and reactive scattering dynamics in an atom + polyatom system

This thesis describes a series of projects whose common theme comprises the structure and internal energy distribution of gas-phase radicals. In the first two projects, shot noise-limited direct absorption spectroscopy is combined with long path-length slit supersonic discharges to obtain first high-resolution infrared spectra for jet-cooled CH2F and CH2Cl in the symmetric and antisymmetric CH2 stretching modes. Drawing motivation from the question of the equilibrium structures of halogen-substituted methyl radicals, spectral assignment yields refined lower and upper state rotational constants, as well as fine-structure parameters from least-square fits to the sub-Doppler lineshapes for individual transitions. High-level CCSD(T) calculations extrapolated to the complete basis set (CBS) limit confirm the existence of a non-planar (theta=29°) CH2F equilibrium structure with a 132 cm-1 barrier to planarity and a vibrational bend frequency of 276 cm-1. Similar calculations for CH 2Cl predict a slightly nonplanar equilibrium structure (theta=11°) with a vibrationally adiabatic one-dimensional treatment of the bend coordinate yielding a fundamental anharmonic frequency (393 cm-1). Both sets of calculations are in excellent agreement with previous studies.; More interesting, however, are the unexpected intensity ratios of the symmetric vs. antisymmetric bands for CH2F and the absence of an antisymmetric band for CH2Cl. While a simple bond-dipole picture predicts a ratio of 1:3 for the symmetric vs. antisymmetric intensities, the experimentally observed value for CH2F is ∼2:1. This ratio is confirmed by DFT [B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ] calculations in a novel albeit indirect probe of the effective non-planarity for CH2F. For CH2Cl, similar DFT calculations predict a 30-fold decrease between the intensity of the symmetric and antisymmetric CH2 stretches, leading to the postulation of a nearly perfect cancellation of antisymmetric stretch intensity transition moment with chlorination.; These two projects are followed by an investigation utilizing a well-characterized radical source, F, in a reaction with ethane to form HF and ethyl radical. The non-radical HF product is detected directly through similar high-resolution infrared absorption methods as described above, and its analysis is used to make inferences about the internal energy redistribution of the other radical fragment, ethyl. State-to-state reaction dynamics under single collision conditions are interpreted in the context of a simple impulsive model based on conservation of linear/angular momentum yields predictions in good agreement with experiment. Deviations from the model indicate only minor excitation of the ethyl vibrations, in contrast with a picture of extensive intramolecular vibrational energy flow but consistent with Franck-Condon excitation of the methylene CH2 bending mode. The results suggest a relatively simple dynamical picture for exothermic atom + polyatomic scattering, i.e., that of early barrier dynamics in atom + diatom systems but modified by impulsive recoil coupling at the transition state between translational/rotational degrees of freedom.