CIS-TRANS ISOMERIZATION OF GLYOXAL IN A SUPERSONIC EXPANSION
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Date
1985
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Publisher
Ohio State University
Abstract
Both the trans and cis forms of glyoxal have long been observed in 300 K spectroscopic studies, where the cis:trans population ratio is $\sim 10^{-3}$. We are using $S_{1} \rightarrow S_{O}$ fluorescence to explore the extent to which this population is frozen when the 300 K trans/cis mixture is expanded in a supersonic jet. The cis-trans isomerization during the expansion can be modelled with the method of Felder and Guntherd (Chem. Phys. 71 9 (1982)). With barriers to the cis-trans internal rotation between 330 and $590 cm^{-1}$, as derived from theoretical treatments, this model predicts frozen cis/trans population ratios corresponding to temperatures as high as 200 K. Experiments are characterizing this isomerization under a variety of beam conditions.
Description
Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, Indiana University