PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF PHYSISORBED KETENE

$^{1.}$ H.H. Richardson, C. Baumann, and G.E. Ewing, Surf. Sci. 185(1987) 15. $^{2.}$ H. Bitto, D.R. Guyer, W.F. Polik, and C.B. Moore, Faraday Discuss. Chem. Soc. 82 (1986) 149.Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, Indiana University; Department of Chemistry, University of California; Department of Chemistry, Indiana UniversitySodium chloride is an excellent substrate for the spectroscopic study of adsorbed molecules. It is transparent to infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. It is also chemically passive; adsorbates are bound through van der Waals forces. We have used infrared spectroscopy to probe molecules adsorbed to highly divided sodium chloride films1. We are extending this technique to the study of surface photochemistry. Gas-phase ketene, $(CH_{2}CO)$, has become a model system for exploring photochemical $mechanisms^{2}$. Infrared spectra of the adsorbed molecule and its trapped photolysis products indicate that a surface can alter photochemical behavio