On the nature of intramolecular vibrational energy transfer in dense molecular environments

Graphical abstract: Mechanisms of IVR in multi-tiers of intramolecular energy levels in different molecular environments are investigated. - Abstract: Transient femtosecond-IR-pump-UV-absorption probe-spectroscopy has been employed to shed light on the nature of intramolecular vibrational energy transfer (IVR) in dense molecular environments ranging from the diluted gas phase to the liquid. A general feature in our experiments and those of others is that IVR proceeds via multiple timescales if overtones or combination vibrations of high frequency modes are excited. It has been found that collisions enhance IVR if its (slower) timescales can compete with collisions. This enhancement is, however, much more weaker and rather inefficient as opposed to the effect of collisions on intermolecular energy transfer which is well known. In a series of experiments we found that IVR depends not significantly on the average energy transferred in a collision but rather on the number of collisions. The collisions are much less efficient in affecting IVR than VET. We conclude that collision induced broadening of vibrational energy levels reduces the energy gaps and enhances existing couplings between tiers. The present results are an important step forward to rationalize and understand apparently different and not consistent results from different groups on different molecular systems between gas and liquid phases.