Abstract
Irradiation of an equilibrium mixture of two or more isomers by a high power infrared laser can lead to quantitative formation of a single component that is not necessarily the thermodynamically preferred one. The case of a binary mixture in which only one isomer absorbs the laser light is quantitatively discussed. Light absorption populates levels above the isomerization energy threshold followed by collisional cooling to either reform the reactant or prepare the product. In the limit of weak collisions the branching ratio depends essentially on. the phase space available to each isomer at the reaction threshold energy. It is shown that the entropic factor can be dominant under certain conditions and that excess foreign gas is essential for a quantitative transformation.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 5107-5114 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | The Journal of Chemical Physics |
Volume | 73 |
Issue number | 10 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1980 |