Abstract

In recent years there has been much interest in how the initial state of a reactant affects the products in a chemical process. In order to answer this question, systems are needed which permit state-selective preparation of the reactants and state-selective detection of the products. One of the few systems in which state-to-state processes have been studied is molecular predissociation, due to the structured absorption spectrum of the excited state, which is coupled to unimolecular dissociation channels. This paper will discuss recent progress in studying the state-to-state dynamics of glyoxal (CHO-CHO) predissociation.

© 1984 Optical Society of America