Abstract

With the development of the technology of ultrashort laser pulses and nonlinear techniques for generation of frequencies in a desired range or white continuum, the accent in studies of molecular dynamics has shifted from precise determination of molecular frequencies and anharmonicities to a detailed microscopic view from the interaction of a molecule with a short laser pulse through intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution (IVR) and a transition state (TS) to the final products and energy dissipation to the environment.¹ Stilbene is a traditional prototype molecule for studying photoinduced isomerization dynamics. Most extensively the system was studied in liquids²⁻⁴ questioning how a solvent environment affects both the rate and outcome as well as what is the mechanism of the reaction. Statical as well dynamical effects are thought to play important role in the solvation, therefore, the intramolecular dynamics and the mechanism of the reaction in the isolated molecule are to be well understood.

© 1994 IEEE