15min:
INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF COLD, HYDRATED ALKALINE EARTH-HYDROXIDE CLUSTERS.

CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON, CHRISTOPHER LEAVITT, JOSEPH FOURNIER, MARK JOHNSON, Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520.

Hydrated, singly-charged [MOH]+ (M=Mg,Ca) clusters have been investigated using mass-selective cryogenic infrared spectroscopy. Spectra of [MOH]+ cdot (H2O)n reveal broad features beginning at n=3 that approach 1000 cm-1 in width at n=5, indicative of large amplitude motion in the water network despite ion temperatures below 40 K. Comparison to calculated structures and spectra help to elucidate the structural and charge-separation dynamics occurring in these clusters.