Rotational Modulation of à 2 A State Photodissociation of HCO via Renner-Teller Nonadiabatic Transitions
By examining the product-state distribution of a prototypical non- adiabatic predissociation system, HCO($Ã^2A''–\tilde X^2A'$), we demonstrate here that the dissociation dynamics is strongly modulated by parent rotational quantum numbers. The predissociation of the nominal ($ν_{\text{C–H}} = 0, ν_{\text{bend}}, ν_{\text{C–O}} = 1$) vibronic levels of the $AÃ^2A''$ state surprisingly gives rise to both vibrational ground and excited states of the CO product, despite the assumed spectator nature of the CO moiety. This anomaly is attributed to the dependence of the lifetime of the vibronic resonance facilitated by the Renner–Teller interaction on the parent rotational angular momentum quantum numbers coupled with transient intensity borrowing from nearby vibronic resonances with $ν_{\text{C–O}} = 0$. This unique phenomenon is a purely quantum mechanical behavior that has no classical analogue.