Comparisons of 2D IR measured spectral diffusion in rotating frames using pulse shaping and in the stationary frame using the standard method

Multidimensional visible spectroscopy using pulse shaping to produce pulses with stable controllable phases and delays has emerged as an elegant tool to acquire electronic spectra faster and with greatly reduced instrumental and data processing errors. Recent migration of this approach using acousto-optic modulator (AOM) pulse shaping to the mid-infrared region has proved useful for acquiring two dimensional infrared (2D IR) vibrational echo spectra. The measurement of spectral diffusion in 2D IR experiments hinges on obtaining accurate 2D line shapes. To date, pulse shaping 2D IR has not been used to study the time-dependent spectral diffusion of a vibrational chromophore. Here we compare the spectral diffusion data obtained from a standard non-collinear 2D IR spectrometer using delay lines to the data obtained from an AOM pulse shaper based 2D IR spectrometer. The pulse shaping experiments are performed in stationary, partially rotating, and fully rotating reference frames and are the first in the infrared to produce 2D spectra collected in a fully rotating frame using a phase controlled pulse sequence. Rotating frame experiments provide a dramatic reduction in the number of time points that must be measured to obtain a 2D IR spectrum, with the fully rotating frame giving the greatest reduction. Experiments were conducted on the transition metal carbonyl complex tricarbonylchloro(1,10-phenanthroline)rhenium(I) in chloroform. The time dependent data obtained from the different techniques and with different reference frames are shown to be in agreement. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4764470]