PROBING THE MICROSTRUCTURES OF TRIVALENT RARE-EARTH COMPOUNDS WITH TIME-RESOLVED 2-CENTER COOPERATIVE VIBRONIC SPECTROSCOPY

Time-resolved two-center cooperative vibronic transition involving a r are earth ion and a vibrational group of a ligand is shown to be a use ful background-free infrared technique for the determination of the li gand structures surrounding trivalent rare earth ions. Several frequen tly encountered groups in biomolecular systems are studied using triva lent terbium ions as probes in solids and in liquids. The microstructu res of the rare earth compounds determined with the two-center coopera tive vibronic transition are found to be in agreement with those deter mined using other techniques.