ACCELERATION OF INTRAMOLECULAR VIBRATIONAL REDISTRIBUTION OF METHYL INTERNAL-ROTATION - A CHEMICAL TIMING STUDY OF P-FLUOROTOLUENE AND P-FLUOROTOLUENE-D3
Db. Moss et Cs. Parmenter, ACCELERATION OF INTRAMOLECULAR VIBRATIONAL REDISTRIBUTION OF METHYL INTERNAL-ROTATION - A CHEMICAL TIMING STUDY OF P-FLUOROTOLUENE AND P-FLUOROTOLUENE-D3, The Journal of chemical physics, 98(9), 1993, pp. 6897-6905
Time-integrated, frequency-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy has been
used to determine rates of intramolecular vibrational energy redistri
bution (IVR) from the vibrational levels 3(1) (epsilon(vib) almost-equ
al-to 1200 cm-1) and 3(1)5(1) (epsilon(vib) almost-equal-to 2000 cm-1)
in both p-fluorotoluene and p-fluorotoluene-d3 for comparison with ea
ch other and with comparable levels in p-difluorobenzene. Methyl subst
itution increases the rate of IVR by roughly two orders of magnitude,
while deuteration of the methyl rotor produces at most a small (two- t
o fourfold) further increase in the rate of IVR. It is argued that the
IVR response to methyl substitution is a consequence of the methyl in
ternal rotation without significant influence from the methyl vibratio
ns. The increased IVR rate is predominantly a reflection of the large
number of additional states that can couple through the exchange of en
ergy between ring vibration and internal rotation. The difference, if
any, between the protonated and deuterated methyl rotor species probab
ly arises from subtle differences in the level structures and coupling
strengths of the two systems. Fermi golden rule modeling of the relat
ive IVR rates is built on these propositions. It accounts for much of
the IVR rate increase associated with the methyl substitution as well
as for the near equivalence of the -CH3 and -CD3 IVR rates.