Bent Hydrogen Bonds and Proton Transfers

The transfer of a proton from one group to anotheris probably the most common and fundamental reactionin all of chemistry, second only to electrontransfer. As experimental techniques have advanced,it has become feasible to study aspects of the protontransfer process that were previously inaccessible. Itis possible to investigate the reaction in the gas phase,free of complicating solvent effe~ts.l-T~h e time frameaccessible to experimental inquiry has been shorteneddramatically in recent years, even into the picosecondscale. 4-