title: Conformational memory in photodissociation of formic acid.
abstract: The trans and cis forms of formic acid (HCOOH) in solid argon favor essentially different photodissociation (193 nm) products, H2O + CO and H2 + CO2, respectively. The branching ratio of these channels differs between the two conformers by a factor of >10. The observed selective photodissociation features conformational memory when the transition state of a molecule is reached before torsional randomization. These data demonstrate that the photodissociation products can be efficiently steered with selective narrow-band infrared radiation promoting rotational isomerism, which makes a strong case of optically controlled chemical reactions
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, P.O. Box 55, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland. Leonid.Khriachtchev@Helsinki.Fi
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Khriachtchev
authors.forename: Ermelinda
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Macoas
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pettersson
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rasanen