Vibrational spectroscopy of single methanol molecules attached to liquid water clusters

Medium-sized water clusters [(H2O)(n), n = 15-20], produced by adiabatic ex pansion of water vapor into a vacuum, were doped with single methanol molec ules by crossing the water cluster beam with an effusive methanol beam. The spectroscopy of the adsorbed methanol molecule has been studied, by exciti ng the C-O stretch with a CO2 laser (9.6 mu m) and the C-H or O-H stretch w ith a Nd:YAG-laser-pumped optical parametric oscillator (2.6-3.6 mu m) and monitoring the vibrational predissociation of the complex (infrared molecul ar beam depletion spectroscopy). It is found that the methanol molecule ado pts a surface site and that it is bound to the water cluster by two or thre e hydrogen bonds, with the methanol molecule acting as proton donor and pro ton acceptor. As is evidenced by the essentially unperturbed C-H stretching spectrum, the methyl group is pointing away from the host cluster surface. Analysis of the dissociation products reveals that the water cluster does not adopt a rigid network structure. Instead it is composed of loosely boun d subclusters which can be expelled from the host cluster by exciting the m ethanol chromophore with low-energy laser photons at moderate flux. The clo se resemblance to IR spectra of liquid water suggests that the doped water clusters are liquid. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.