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The pressure and temperature dependence of the photoisomerization rate coefficient of trans-stilbene in the S1 state have been measured in the solvents C2H6, C3H8, C4H10, Xe, Co2, SF6, and CHF3. At constant temperature, the pressure dependences up to 6 kbar can be well represented by the Kramers–Smoluchowski model. The comparison of results in different solvents clearly indicates the importance of reactant–solvent cluster formation modifying the height and imaginary frequency of the barrier. The change of the temperature dependence with pressure points towards a multidimensional barrier of nonseparable character. Multidimensional barrier effects manifest themselves most clearly via the temperature dependence of the rate coefficient in the Kramers–Smoluchowski limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photoisomerization of diphenylbutadiene was studied by picosecond absorption spectroscopy over wide pressure and temperature ranges in liquid and supercritical alkanes, CO2, SF6, and He. The reaction shows typical features of a thermal unimolecular reaction on the S1 potential energy surface. The rate can be expressed by a combination of standard unimolecular rate theory and Kramers–Smoluchowski theory. However, multidimensional behavior manifests itself in the transition to the gas phase low pressure range as well as to the high density Kramers–Smoluchowski range: in the former case, the low pressure limit of a unimolecular reaction of the polyatomic molecule is approached; in the latter case, the effective imaginary barrier frequency shows a marked apparent temperature dependence. The experiments also suggest contributions of reactant–solvent cluster interactions, which modify the barrier height even in nonpolar solvents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]