This grant in experimental physical chemistry is to support a research project in ultraviolet-microwave optical double resonance and a uv-microwave optical polarization spectrometer will be first developed and then used to study the dynamics and structures of very short lived (transient) molecules. Knowledge of the fundamental physical properties (dipole moments, bond lengths, electronic character and state distributions) of such chemical intermediates are important in understanding the rates and paths of chemical reactions. The specific molecules that will be studied include transition metal oxides, stable radicals such as FeCO and NiCO and ground and low lying excited states of formaldehyde, methylnitrene and MgOH. For the latter, state specific processes, such as radiative and nonradiative energy distribution, dissociation, and isomerization will be investigated.
