UC Berkeley

Molecular dynamics is the sub-field of chemistry interested in studying the microscopic movements of molecules and their partitioning of energy. Through molecular dynamics, a higher level of understanding of both reactive and non-reactive chemical processes can be achieved. In these works, two separate techniques are used to investigate the molecular dynamics of three different chemical systems. The first technique, fast beam photodissociation spectroscopy utilizes a combination of anion photoelectron spectroscopy and fast beam free radical dissociation to study the photodissociation dynamics of free radical species. The free radical species investigated in these works are the methyl phenoxy radical and isoprene hydroxy radical both of which are relevant to atmospheric and combustion chemistry. Insights are obtained for the different dissociation products which can be formed from these two radicals, the branching ratios of each dissociation channel, and the dissociation mechanisms responsible for each channel. The second technique, flat liquid jet scattering is used to investigate the gas-liquid interface of ND3 and dodecane. Flat liquid jet scattering is a relatively new technique which utilizes a flat liquid sheet and molecular beam to uncover mechanistic details of gas-liquid interactions. The dynamics uncovered in these works specifically investigate ND3 scattered from the relatively high vapor pressure liquid dodecane, and provide a proof of concept for the flat liquid jet technique being used on more volatile liquids such as water.