Chemical Physics Letters, Vol.354, No.3-4, 269-273, 2002
Ultrafast intracluster reaction in Ba center dot center dot center dot FCH3 excited to the electronic (B)over-tilde state
The intracluster reaction initiated in (BaFCH3)-F-... by excitation to its electronic state near 540 nm proceeds on an extremely short timescale. A time constant of (70 +/- 10) fs is deduced for the rate-determining step in (BaFCH3)-F-... whereas for the deuterated complex (BaFCD3)-F-... this time is enlarged to (100 10) fs. By comparison with the results obtained for the reaction via the excited (A) over bar state at 618 nm a reaction model is suggested which explains the BaF product formation in two successive steps. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.