Previously, we have reported that the OH stretch of water clearly distinguishes between the H3+O and H5+O2 solvates in acetonitrile. We now report that using the CN stretch mode of acetonitrile at 2260 cm-1 one can extent the analysis to n=3 and to higher cluster sizes up at least n = 8. For the two smallest protonated water clusters n= 1, 2 in acetonitrile the two spectroscopic methods give practically identical information about the dependence of the cluster size distribution on the H2O/H+ concentration ratio in the acetonitrile solution. The importance of establishing the structure and relative distribution of the 3 lowest protonated water clusters in acetonitrile as a function of the H2O/H+ ratio to the ongoing study of the structure of the hydrated proton in bulk aqueous solutions using 2-D fs-resolved IR spectroscopy will be also discussed.

Full characterization of small discrete  protonated water clusters in acetonitrile n=1,2,3 using the CN stretch as a spectator mode

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.