Conformational Isomerization of Formic Acid by Vibrational Excitation at Energies below the Torsional Barrier

Photoinduced conformational isomerization of formic acid has been studied in a low-temperature argon matrix. It is found that conformational isomerization occurs when the photon energy is below the energy barrier for this process. The quantum yield for the process near the top of the barrier is comp...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pettersson, Mika (author)
Other Authors: Maçôas, Ermelinda M. S. (author), Khriachtchev, Leonid (author), Fausto, Rui (author), Räsänen, Markku (author)
Format: article
Language:eng
Published: 2003
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10316/10623
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:estudogeral.sib.uc.pt:10316/10623
Description
Summary:Photoinduced conformational isomerization of formic acid has been studied in a low-temperature argon matrix. It is found that conformational isomerization occurs when the photon energy is below the energy barrier for this process. The quantum yield for the process near the top of the barrier is comparable with the quantum yield above the barrier and drops at lower energies. The isomerization takes place via a tunneling mechanism.