SPECTROSCOPIC STUDY OF INTRACLUSTER PROTON-TRANSFER IN SMALL-SIZE HYDROGEN-BONDING CLUSTERS OF PHENOL

Spectroscopic studies of the hydrogen-bonding clusters of phenol were reviewed with an emphasis of the characterization of the cluster structures involving the proton transfer processes. Two experimental methods which were newly developed for the spectroscopy of the size selected clusters and their ions were described. Trapped ion photodissociation spectroscopy revealed that chromophore alternation occurs in the cluster cations with various proton-accepting molecules, such as NH3 and H2O. The infrared spectroscopy combined with the ionization detection was applied to the spectra of the OH vibrations which characterized the neutral clusters of phenol with water. The spectroscopic evidence of the ion-pair form of the neutral cluster is presented and the possibility of the intracluster acid-base reaction is discussed.