Nonadiabatic photofragmentation dynamics of BrCN−

The photofragmentation dynamics of BrCN− in the 270–355 nm and the 430–600 nm wavelength regions is explored both experimentally and theoretically. In the case of excitation between 430 nm and 600 nm, it is found that the molecular ion accesses two dissociation channels with a measured 60:40 branching ratio that is nearly constant over this range of photon energies. The dominant product channel corresponds to Br− + CN, while the second channel correlates to spin-orbit excited Br* with CN−. A larger wavelength dependence of the branching ratio is observed at shorter wavelengths, where the fraction of Br− based products ranges from 80% to 95% at 355 nm and 270 nm, respectively. These branching ratios are reproduced and the mechanisms are explored by quantum dynamics calculations based on ground and excited state potential energy surfaces for BrCN−, evaluated at the SO-MRCISD level of theory. It is found that the electronic states that correlate to the two observed product channels are coupled through the spin-orbit terms in the electronic Hamiltonian. The strength of this coupling displays a strong dependence on the Br-CN angle. Specifically, after promotion to the excited state that is energetically accessible with 430–600 nm photons, it is found that when the wave packet accesses Br-CN separations of between 4 Å and 6 Å, predominantly the Br− + CN products are formed when the Br-CN angle is smaller than 120°. For larger values of the Br-CN angle, the Br* + CN− channel dominates. At the shorter wavelength excitation, the dynamics is complicated by a pair of states that correlate to electronically excited CN* + Br− products that borrow oscillator strength from the bright state, leading to an increase in the amount of Br− relative to CN−. The implications of these findings are discussed and compared to the experimentally measured product branching ratios for the photodissociation of BrCN−