Single-Color Isomer-Resolved Spectroscopy

J Phys Chem A. 2022 Jun 16;126(23):3811-3815. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c02277. Epub 2022 Jun 1.

Abstract

Structural isomers, such as conformers or tautomers, are of significant importance across chemistry and biology, as they can have different functionalities. In gas-phase experiments using molecular beams, formation of many different isomers cannot be prevented, and their presence significantly complicates the assignment of spectral lines. Current isomer-resolved spectroscopic techniques heavily rely on theoretical calculations or make use of elaborate double-resonance schemes. We show here that isomer-resolved spectroscopy can also be performed using a single tunable laser. In particular, we demonstrate single-color isomer-resolved spectroscopy by utilizing electrostatic deflection to spatially separate the isomers. We show that for 3-aminophenol we can spatially separate the syn and anti conformers and use these pure samples to perform high-resolution REMPI spectroscopy, making the assignment of transitions to a particular isomer trivial, without any additional a priori information. This approach allows one to add isomer specificity to any molecular-beam-based experiment.

MeSH terms

  • Isomerism*
  • Spectrophotometry, Infrared
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
  • Static Electricity