Quantum-state resolved reactive scattering at the gas-liquid interface: F plus squalane (C30H62) dynamics via high-resolution infrared absorption of nascent HF(v,J)

Exothermic chemical reaction dynamics at the gas-liquid interface have been investigated by colliding a supersonic beam of F atoms [E-com=0.7(3) kcal/mol] with a continuously refreshed liquid hydrocarbon (squalane) surface under high vacuum conditions. Absolute HF(v,J) product densities are determined by infrared laser absorption spectroscopy, with velocity distributions along the probe axis derived from high resolution Dopplerimetry. Nascent HF(v <= 3) products are formed in a highly nonequilibrium (inverted) vibrational distribution [< E-vib >=13.2(2) kcal/mol], reflecting insufficient time for complete thermal accommodation with the surface prior to desorption. Colder, but still non-Boltzmann, rotational state populations [< E-rot >=1.0(1) kcal/mol] indicate that some fraction of molecules directly scatter into the gas phase without rotationally equilibrating with the surface. Nascent HF also recoils from the liquid surface with excess translational energy, resulting in Doppler broadened linewidths that increase systematically with internal HF excitation. The data are consistent with microscopic branching in HF-surface dynamics following the reactive event, with (i) a direct reactive scattering fraction of newly formed product molecules leaving the surface promptly and (ii) a trapping desorption fraction that accommodates rotationally (though still not vibrationally) with the bulk liquid. Comparison with analogous gas phase F+hydrocarbon processes reveals that the liquid acts as a partial heat sink for vibrational energy flow on the time scale of the chemical reaction event.