DISSOCIATIVE RESONANCE RAMAN-SPECTRUM OF METHYL MERCAPTAN

Dissociative resonance Raman spectroscopy has been used to probe the d issociation dynamics of methyl mercaptan. A tunable, narrow-band UV la ser system has been developed capable of generating 10 ns pulses of si milar to 10 mJ energy, with a bandwidth of less than 1 cm(-1) (fwhm). The Raman spectrum of methyl mercaptan shows a progression which we as sign to the C-S stretching mode. A strong feature we assign to the S-H stretching fundamental exhibited no overtones. The Raman spectrum of methyl mercaptan is complicated by the appearance of CS and atomic car bon fluorescence. A pathway is proposed for the multiphoton formation of these emitting species at 193 nm excitation.