Infrared Multiphoton Dissociation of Heptafluoropropane

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/j100300a016

The dissociation yield and branching ratio in CO2-laser-induced multiphoton dissociation (MPD) of CF3CF2CHF2 were studied as a function of irradiation frequency (979.7, 1037.4, and 1081.1 cm^-1) and laser fluence (focal fluence < 20 J/cm²).Br2 was successfully employed to reveal the dissociation mechanisms by scavenging a number of primary and secondary dissociation fragments produced in the MPD.At low laser fluences the distributions of scavenged products were the same regardless of irradiation frequencies.The primary dissociation of CF3CF2CHF2 was found to proceed mainly via the higher activation energy channels (i.e., C-C ruptures: CF3CF2CHF2 -> C2F5 + CHF2, and CF3CF2CHF2 -> CF3 + C2HF4) rather than via HF elimination (CF3CF2CHF2 -> C3F6 + HF) in our experimental conditions.The observed branching ratio between the two C-C rupture channels (ca. 2:1) agreed with the results obtained by RRKM calculation.A remarkable difference in product distribution with respect to the irradiation frequency was observed at higher laser fluences.This indicates that the secondary photolysis of primarily produced radicals within the laser pulse occured significantly at higher fluences (i.e., C2F5 -> CF3 + CF2, CHF2 -> CF2 + H, CF3 -> CF2 + F, and C2HF4 -> CF2 + CHF2), depending strongly upon the irradiation frequencies.