Infrared-infrared double resonance spectroscopy of the isomers of acetylene-HCN and cyanoacetylene-HCN in helium nanodroplets

J Phys Chem A. 2007 Aug 9;111(31):7282-91. doi: 10.1021/jp070015k. Epub 2007 Apr 28.

Abstract

Infrared-infrared double resonance spectroscopy is used to probe the vibrational dynamics of molecular complexes solvated in helium nanodroplets. We report results for the acetylene-HCN and cyanoacetylene-HCN binary complexes, each having two stable isomers. We find that vibrational excitation of an acetylene-HCN complex results in a population transfer to the other isomer. Photoinduced isomerization is found to be dependent on both the initially excited vibrational mode and the identity of the acetylene-HCN isomer. However, population transfer is not observed for the cyanoacetylene-HCN complexes. The results are rationalized in terms of the ab initio intermolecular potential energy surfaces for the two systems with particular emphasis on the long-range barriers to rearrangement.