Femtosecond dynamics of hydrogen-bonding solvents. Formamide and N-methylformamide in acetonitrile, DMF, and water

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Abstract
We have used optical‐heterodyne‐detected optical Kerr effect (OHD‐OKE) spectroscopy to measure the ultrafast dynamical profile of the amide series formamide (FA), N‐methylformamide (NMF), and N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF). We have studied the concentration dependence of binary solutions of FA and NMF using DMF, water, and acetonitrile as cosolvents. Our results show an underdamped librational motion with a period of about 100 cm−1 in both FA and NMF, which also occurs in the binary solutions. The significance of these results for ultrafast chemical reactions in solution is discussed.