9308430 Sinha In this project in the Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. A. Sinha of the University of California at San Diego will conduct a research program to study the influence of molecular vibrations on the chemical reactivity of polyatomic molecules. The effect of specific vibrational modes in bimolecular reactions will be investigated by exciting vibrational states of reagent molecules having similar energy, and observing the consequences of this initial state selection on the reaction rate, the product quantum state distributions, and the product branching ratios. This will be accomplished by using several different laser excitation schemes to prepare vibrational states corresponding to a wide range of nuclear motion in small polyatomic molecules and then monitoring their subsequent reactions with various radicals by detecting the reaction products using laser spectroscopy. %%% The study of chemical reactions and their associated reaction dynamics stands at the forefront of contemporary physical chemistry. The goal of the present study is to understand how various molecular vibrations having similar total energy but corresponding to different intramolecular distribution of the excitation influence chemical reactivity. Measurements in which the excited states are fully resolved yield data which allow detailed comparisons with current theoretical models and promise to provide new insights into the factors that influence selectivity in chemical reactions. ***
