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The origin of the exceptional stability of molecular glasses grown by physical vapor deposition (PVD) is not well understood. Differences in glass density have been correlated with thermodynamic stability for thin films of N,N′-Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N′-diphenylbenzidine (TPD) grown by PVD at specific substrate temperatures below the glass transition temperature. However, the relationship between the internal conformation of glass molecules and the thermodynamic properties of molecular glasses is not well studied. We use carbon 1s near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy to examine different TPD sample preparations in which differences in the thermodynamic stability of the glass are known. Density functional theory simulations of the NEXAFS spectra of TPD allow us to attribute spectroscopic differences to changes in the internal conformation of the TPD molecule and relate this conformation to the stability of the TPD glass. This provides a direct experimental measurement of the internal conformation of molecules forming an organic glass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thiophenic compounds are major constituents of fossil fuels and pose problems for fuel refinement. The quantification and speciation of these compounds is of great interest in different areas such as biology, fossil fuels studies, geology, and archaeology. Sulfur 1s Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy has emerged as a qualitative and quantitative method for sulfur speciation. A firm understanding of the sulfur 1s NEXAFS spectra of organosulfur species is required for these analytical studies. To support this development, the sulfur 1s NEXAFS spectra of simple thiols and thioethers were previously examined, and are now extended to studies of thiophenic and aromatic thioether compounds, in the gas and condensed phases. High-resolution spectra have been further analyzed with the aid of Improved Virtual Orbital (IVO) and Δ(self-consistent field) ab initio calculations. Experimental sulfur 1s NEXAFS spectra show fine features predicted by calculation, and the combination of experiment and calculation has been used to improve the assignment of spectroscopic features important for the speciation and quantification of sulfur compounds. Systematic differences between gas and condensed phases are also explored; these differences suggest a significant role for conformational effects in the NEXAFS spectra of condensed species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present high resolution oxygen K near-edge x-ray absorption spectra of the acenaphthenequinone (ANQ) derivative 3,8-dibromo-5,6-dichloro-ANQ (Br2Cl2-ANQ). The spectral features exhibit an almost identical vibronic fine structure compared to that shown by ANQ. The unequal distances of the vibronic levels as derived from the least-squares fit analysis of the vibronic progressions allows us to determine the anharmonicity of the excited state potentials involved. We conclude that a single vibrational progression couples to the resonant excitation of O 1s core electrons preferentially. Comparison of the two ANQ derivatives gives a clear indication that the vibronic mode corresponds to a C=O stretching mode, rather than coupling to a C-H mode as suggested previously. These conclusions are supported by density functional theory calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The speciation and quantification of sulfur species based on sulfur K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy is of wide interest, particularly for biological and petroleum science. These tasks require a firm understanding of the sulfur 1s near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra of relevant species. To this end, we have examined the gas phase sulfur 1s NEXAFS spectra of a group of simple thiol and thioether compounds. These high-resolution gas phase spectra are free of solid-state broadening, charging, and saturation effects common in the NEXAFS spectra of solids. These experimental data have been further analyzed with the aid of improved virtual orbital Hartree-Fock ab initio calculations. The experimental sulfur 1s NEXAFS spectra show fine features predicted by calculation, and the combination of experiment and calculation has been used to improve assignment of spectroscopic features relevant for the speciation and quantification of the sulfur compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have recorded the iron 2p and carbon 1s near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra of decamethyl ferrocene (Fe 3d6) and ferrocenium hexafluorophosphate (Fe 3d5), two low spin compounds with closed- and open-shell electron configurations, respectively. These species have a similar covalent bonding environment but a different electron configuration, allowing us to examine the role of ligand-metal interactions and electron correlation responsible for their NEXAFS spectra. We have interpreted these spectra with the aid of ab initio configuration interaction (CI) calculations. The CI calculations indicate that double excitation is essential to interpret the Fe 2p NEXAFS spectra of not only the open-shell ferrocenium ion but also the closed-shell ferrocene species, even though the ground states of both species are well described within the Hartree–Fock single-configuration approximation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon 1s near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra of simple gaseous alkane molecules differ from the spectra of the same alkane molecules in the condensed phase. The origin of these large, systematic differences is poorly understood. The NEXAFS spectra of gaseous alkanes are interpreted as a progression of core→Rydberg transitions with distinctive vibronic structure. The interpretation of the NEXAFS spectra of condensed phase alkanes is varied. Specifically, the degree of Rydberg character in the preedge core excited states of condensed alkanes is controversial. We determined the character of core excited states in condensed alkanes with a combination of experiment and computational study. From this, we have determined the nature of matrix effects for these species. The high-resolution carbon 1s NEXAFS spectrum of gaseous neopentane is dramatically different from its condensed phase spectrum, a striking illustration of the dramatic spectroscopic changes that occur upon condensation. High quality ab initio calculations of a cluster designed to model the solid phase environment provide definitive evidence for the reduction of Rydberg character and support the assignment of σC–H* valence character in the preedge features in the NEXAFS spectra of condensed alkanes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]