Dr. Jeanne L. McHale is supported by a grant from the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program to perform resonance Raman studies of electron donor-acceptor complexes. Theoretical and experimental studies of intermolecular interactions of this type play an important role in areas of biology, catalysis, and photoinitiated chemical reactions. Resonance Raman spectroscopy will be employed to investigate solvent effects on the ground and excited state structures of weakly bound electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes. The vibrational frequencies and intensities of donor-acceptor bond stretching overtones will be studied in a variety of solvents. Geometry changes associated with the charge-transfer electronic transition will be determined using transform theory to relate the absorption spectra to the Raman excitation profiles of acceptor vibrations. Additional theoretical studies will be performed of the intermolecular potential energy surface with the goal of understanding conformational flexibility of EDA complexes and its spectroscopic consequences.
