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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik
MO 9: Femtosecond Spectroscopy II
MO 9.1: Invited Talk
Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 10:30–11:00, TOE 317
Transient generation of carbonic acid in the context of the aqueous chemistry of carbon dioxide — Katrin Adamczyk1, Mirabelle Prémont-Schwarz1, Dina Pines2, Ehud Pines2, and •Erik T. J. Nibbering1 — 1Max Born Institut für Nichtlineare Optik und Kurzzeitspektroskopie, Max Born Strasse 2A, D-12489 Berlin, Germany — 2Ben Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Beersheva 84105, Israel
We have generated carbonic acid, for a long time a species of elusive nature, in aqueous solution by ultrafast protonation of bicarbonate. We follow the reaction dynamics upon photoexcitation of a photoacid by monitoring infrared-active marker modes with femtosecond time resolution. We directly obtain the on-contact proton transfer rate to bicarbonate previously inaccessible when using indirect methods. Our experimental results suggest new approaches for the elucidation of the chemical reaction dynamics of aqueous carbon dioxide under conditions relevant for biophysiology, biogeochemistry, the regulation and evolution of the climate on Earth as well as in the design of large scale carbon sequestration projects.