Probing chemical reactions: evidence for exploration of an excited potential energy surface at thermal energies.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 17745355.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
The reaction K + NaBr --> KBr + Na is probed during the reactive collision by a continuous wave laser tuned to frequencies not resonant with excitation in either reagents or products. Transient [K..Br..Na] absorbs a laser photon giving [K..Br..Na](*), which can decompose to Na(*) + KBr. Emission from excited Na(*) at the sodium D lines provides direct evidence of laser absorption during the reaction. Different excitation spectra were observed, depending on which sodium D line was monitored. This difference is explicable if, in the absence of the laser, the reaction flux partially bifurcates to a second potential energy surface during the reaction.