Primary steps in the photolysis of vinyl chloride

Rovibrational distributions of HF in the photodissociation of vinyl fluoride at 193 nm: a direct MP2 quasiclassical trajectory study

Quasiclassical trajectory calculations were performed to calculate rovibrational distributions of the nascent HF fragment in the photodissociation of vinyl fluoride at 193 nm. The trajectories were initiated at the transition states of the four-center (4C) and three-center (3C) HF elimination channels, using a microcanonical, quasiclassical normal-mode sampling. In general, the calculated distributions are in reasonably good agreement with experiment. In particular, the trajectory distributions show bimodal character, although not as pronounced as that observed experimentally. The calculations predict that the 3C and 4C distributions are rather similar to each other, which suggests that the low-J and high-J components of the rotational distributions cannot be specifically assigned to each of these channels.

Photochemistry of Vinyl Chloride Physisorbed on Ag(111) through Molecular Anion Formation Induced by Substrate Electron Attachment

Pulsed 266 and 355 nm ultraviolet laser irradiation of monolayer vinyl chloride physisorbed on Ag(111) results in molecular dissociation leading to C2H3 and Cl, much of which is adsorbed to the surface. On the basis of observations made on dissociation dependences on chlorine isotope and photon energy, it is deduced that upon excitation vinyl chloride forms a transient negative ion through a substrate mediated, vertical electron attachment mechanism. The anion either dissociates or relaxes through energy transfer to the neutral state causing the neutral molecule to desorb. The threshold for vertical attachment of substrate electron is estimated to be 0.8 eV below the vacuum level, in agreement with the experimentally observed wavelength dependence in photoinduced dissociation. Chemisorbed Cl on the Ag(111) surface inhibits the photodissociation process by increasing the substrate work function and consequently the energy threshold for electron vertical attachment. Upon heating the Ag(111) surface, adsorbed vinyl combines to produce 1,3-butadiene in a first order, diffusion limited, process with an activation energy of 10.4 kcal/mol.

Quasiclassical trajectory calculations on the photodissociation of CF2CHCl at 193 nm: product energy distributions for the HF and HCl eliminations

Quasiclassical trajectory calculations were carried out to determine product energy distributions for the HCl and HF eliminations that take place in the photodissociation of 2-chloro-1,1-difluoroethylene at 193 nm. The trajectories were initiated at the transition states of the HCl and HF elimination channels under microcanonical, quasiclassical conditions, and were propagated with the energies and gradients taken directly from density functional theory calculations. Good agreement with experiment is found, except for the translational energy distribution of the HF elimination channel and the average vibrational energy of the HCl fragment. Possible sources of disagreement are discussed.