NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Linkage Isomerization via Geminate Cage or Biomolecular Mechanisms: Time-Resolved Investigations of an Organometallic Photochrome
Published
Author(s)
Edwin J. Heilweil, Kristy M. Dewitt, Tung T. To, Theodore J. Burkey
Abstract
A metal center reversibly migrates from a pyridinyl group to a nitrile group in the light driven linkage isomerization of dicarbonyl(3-cyanomethylpyridine-N3)(eta-5-methylcyclopentadienyl)-manganese (4) to dicarbonyl(3-cyanomethylpyridine-CN)(eta-5-methylcyclopentadienyl)-manganese (5). We previously reported that a substantial part of the conversion between the isomers in benzene must be bimolecular reaction between a solvent coordinated dicarbonyl(eta-5-methylcyclopentadienyl)manganese (3). In this study, the path between 4 and 5 is followed by time resolved infrared spectroscopy (TRIR) on the picosecond to microsecond timescales. Assignments of transients are identified by comparison with those found in model reactions reported in the literature. Within one microsecond after photolysis of 4 in isooctane, no 5 is observed even in the presence of 9 mM 3-cyanomethylpyridine. Instead, the solvent coordinated 3 and a minor transient are observed within 25 ps after irradiation. The minor transient, similar to one previously reported for a triplet dicarbonyl(eta-5-cyclopentadienyl)manganese, decays in less than 200 ps as 3 continues to grow. The formation of 5 was observed 10-50 microseconds after irradiation of 4 but only in the presence of 9 mM 3-cyanomethylpyridine. Within the limits of detection, these results indicate the conversion of 4 to 5 occurs exclusively via a bimolecular reaction of 3-cyanomethylpyridine with solvent coordinated 3 and not a geminate cage reaction between 3-cyanomethylpyridine and the dicarbonyl(eta-5-methylcyclopentadienyl)manganese fragment.
Heilweil, E.
, Dewitt, K.
, To, T.
and Burkey, T.
(2015),
Linkage Isomerization via Geminate Cage or Biomolecular Mechanisms: Time-Resolved Investigations of an Organometallic Photochrome, Journal of Physical Chemistry A, [online], https://doi.org/10.1021/jp513033j
(Accessed October 8, 2025)