Dynamics of photodissociation of XeF2 in organic solvents.

Transient electronic absorption measurements with 1 ps time resolution follow XeF2 photoproducts in acetonitrile and chlorinated solvents. Ultraviolet light near 266 nm promptly breaks one Xe-F bond, and probe light covering 320-700 nm monitors the products. Some of the cleaved F atoms remain in close proximity to an XeF fragment and perturb the electronic states of XeF. The time evolution of a perturbed spectral feature is used to monitor the FXe-F complex population, which decays in less than 5 ps. Decay can occur through geminate recombination, diffusive separation or reaction of the complex with the solvent.