Dr. David F. Kelley is supported by a grant from The Experimental Physical Chemistry Program to perform time-resolved studies of reaction intermediates which are isolated in low temperature Argon matrices. This research will provide a more fundamental understanding of the physical process of chemical reaction. Two areas of research will be explored: 1) studies of photo-induced bimolecular cycloaddition reactions of aromatics and aromatic olefins, and 2) studies of intermolecular excited state proton transfer. In both cases the species to be studied will be formed in a molecular jet expansion and trapped in a matrix of condensed argon carrier gas. Reaction intermediates will be studied by picosecond emission, two color laser induced fluorescence and absorption spectroscopies. A variety of allowed ?2+2! and ?4+4! addition reactions will be studied with reactants chosen to facilitate unambiguous assignment of the intermediate transient spectra. The studies of intermolecular excited state proton transfer reactions will elucidate the effects of solvation on proton transfer rates. For these experiments proton donors will include phenol, alpha- and beta-napthols, and their nitro-substituted derivatives, while solvents will include water, ammonia and alcohols.
