Award Date

8-2010

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Physics

Department

Physics

First Committee Member

Michael Pravica, Co-Chair

Second Committee Member

Lon Spight,, Co-Chair

Third Committee Member

Oliver Tschauner

Fourth Committee Member

Len Zane

Graduate Faculty Representative

Clemens Heske

Number of Pages

63

Abstract

1,3,5,7-cyclooctatetraene (COT) is a single-ringed hydrocarbon that has not been studied extensively under high static pressures. It was the intent of this study to reveal its high-pressure behavior through its vibrational spectra. To this end, its infrared spectra as a function of pressure were collected at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) U2A beamline, as well as its Raman spectra over pressure using a micro-Raman spectrometer.

The spectra show the typical stiffening of force constants with increasing pressure for most peaks, particularly those which would theoretically exhibit a mode-softening behavior under hypotheses of molecular planarization and aromatization. Additionally, the data supports the findings of a previous spectroscopic study done by our group, in which the sample transforms into a phase lacking long-range order and possessing a waxy appearance upon release of the sample from pressure, indicative of high-pressure induced chemistry.

Keywords

Aromaticity (Chemistry); Cyclooctatetraene; Flattening; High pressure (Science); Hydrocarbons; Infrared; Raman effect; Raman spectroscopy

Disciplines

Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics | Organic Chemistry | Physics

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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