title: Conformational isomerization of formic acid by vibrational excitation at energies below the torsional barrier.
abstract: Photoinduced conformational isomerization of formic acid has been studied in a low-temperature argon matrix. It is found that conformational isomerization occurs when the photon energy is below the energy barrier for this process. The quantum yield for the process near the top of the barrier is comparable with the quantum yield above the barrier and drops at lower energies. The isomerization takes place via a tunneling mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, P.O. Box 55, FIN-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland. petters@csc.fi
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pettersson
authors.forename: Ermelinda M S
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Maçôas
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Khriachtchev
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fausto
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Räsänen
mesh_terms: D005561:Formates / Q000737:chemistry*; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014732:Vibration
chemical_list: D005561:Formates; C030544:formic acid