Knowledge Bank

2-Fluoroethanol has five distinct isomers. IR photochemical conversion from the most stable, $Gg$, to probably $Tt$ has been previously reported. We have studied the IR photo isomerization kinetics and the photoproducts for photolyses into the OH stretch and one of the CH stretches of each of the more stable isomers. These isomers are easily interconverted. There is evidence for considerable vibrational energy transfer in the solid. We have identified two additional, less stable, conformers. The photoproducts depend strongly on the vibration that is excited: the products observed after $\upsilon OH$ photolysis are different from those observed upon $\upsilon CH$ photolysis.