|
Z. Naturforsch. 68a, 310 – 314
(2013)
doi:10.5560/ZNA.2013-0005
Transmission and Transformation of Vibrational Energy in a Molecular Donor–Acceptor System
1 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Skobeltzin Institute of Nuclear Physics, 119992, Moscow, Russia
2 Chemistry Department, Philipps-University Marburg, D-35032 Marburg, Germany
Received November 23, 2012 / published online March 6, 2013
Reprint requests to: H. J.; E-mail:
jungclas@staff.uni-marburg.de
A system of two different organic molecules with specific properties is investigated in this article. It is assumed that only one of the two molecules has a permanent dipole momentum and is containing alkane chains (CnH2n), which can be excited by infrared (IR) fields with wavelengths in the range of 16–18μm. This molecule can play the role of a donor in this system if the partner molecule (called acceptor) is an aromatic hydrocarbon and close enough to pick up the vibrational excitation energy acquired by the donor. As it was shown in our previous work [H. Jungclas, A. Wieghaus, L. Schmidt, A. M. Popova, and V. V. Komarov, J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 10, 471 (1999)], the CnH2n-structures of the donor molecule are able to act like IR antennas and thus store the energy of absorbed IR photons.
Aromatic molecules can be polarized in the electric field of the IR antenna's dipole momentum. Thus the accumulated energy of the donor can be transferred to the acceptor by dipole–dipole interactions and finally will be emitted by fluorescence. These energy transmission and transformation processes are analyzed, and a practical application is proposed.
Key words: Molecular Donor–Acceptor System; IR Radiation; Vibrational Energy Transformation; Acceptor Fluorescence.