102 Cardwell Hall
Intramolecular hydrogen migration is a natural process that plays a crucial role in many biological, chemical, and physical phenomena, and is the object of current research efforts in fuel cells, proteomics, and combustion chemistry. Using ultrafast, intense lasers and sophisticated pump-probe ion imaging techniques, we can explore the rich dynamics of hydrogen migration reactions, including what timescale they occur on. In my talk, I will present two studies. The first study is on acetylene, a small hydrocarbon, where a hydrogen can migrate across the carbon atoms to form its vinylidene isomer [1,2,3]. The second study is on ethanol, a complex molecule where both single hydrogen and double hydrogen migrations occur, and the timescale for each is individually determined [4]. These experimental results, in combination with state-of-the art quantum chemical trajectory calculations, give us new insight into the complex nuclear motions in multi-atom molecules.
[1] C. Burger et al. Faraday Discussions 194, 495 (2016).
[2] M. Kübel et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 193001 (2016).
[3] H. Li et al. Opt. Exp. 25, 14192 (2017).
[4] N. G. Kling et al. In preparation
