CO(v=1) population lifetimes of metal–carbonyl cluster compounds in dilute CHCl3 solution

Tunable infrared picosecond pulses in the 5 μ region have been used for time-resolved pump–probe measurements of the population relaxation lifetime (T1) of CO(v=1) stretching vibrations in a series of metal–carbonyl cluster compounds in room temperature chloroform solution. T1 was the same for symmetric (ν=2084 cm−1, 90±10 ps) and antisymmetric (2014 cm−1, 87±10 ps) modes of the dicarbonyl Rh(CO)2(C5H7O2); T1 was the same for the B1 (2092 cm−1, 710±130 ps) and B2 (2036 cm−1, 750±90 ps) modes of Rh2(CO)4Cl2. Similarly long T1 times were found for Rh4(CO)12 (2075 cm−1, 610±65 ps) and Rh6(CO)16 (2077 cm−1, 700±100 ps). The molecule Co4(CO)12 has also been compared to the corresponding rhodium analog and it exhibits an initially fast relaxation of 47±5 ps followed by a slower 396±70 ps decay. The transient response of the more complex systems to the single frequency experiment is found to be sensitive to frequency and can exhibit bleaching, absorption, and a combination of these effects. Such behavior is attributed to overlap of the IR pulse with v=1 to v=2 and higher transitions in the M4(CO)12 (M=Rh or Co) and Rh6(CO)16 molecules. The long CO(v=1) T1 values for the metal cluster molecules suggest relaxation via multiquantum transfer of vibrational energy to adjacent M–C stretch and M–C–O bend vibrations; energy transfer to vibrational or electronic states of the central metal core seems unimportant in determining T1 for these systems.