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Intramolecular hydrogen tunneling in para-hydrogen matrix
by - 25 March 2021
Intramolecular hydrogen tunneling in 2-chloromalonaldehyde trapped in solid para-hydrogen.
A. Gutiérrez-Quintanilla, M. Chevalier, R. Platakyte, J. Ceponkus and C. Crépin - Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 22 (2020) 6115
The internal dynamics of a 2-chloromalonaldehyde (2-ClMA) molecule, possessing a strong internal hydrogen bond (IHB), was examined by means of matrix isolation spectroscopy in a soft host: para-hydrogen (pH2). 2-ClMA is a chlorinated derivative of malonaldehyde (MA), a model molecule in hydrogen transfer studies, better suited to low temperature experiments than its parent molecule. The infrared absorption spectra of 2-ClMA isolated in pH2 exhibit temperature dependent structures which are explained as transitions occurring from split vibrational levels induced by hydrogen tunneling. This study provides a powerful insight into the dynamical picture of intramolecular hydrogen tunneling in a molecule embedded in a very weakly perturbing environment.