Iodine-benzene complex as a candidate for a real-time control of a bimolecular reaction. Spectroscopic studies of the properties of the 1:1 complex isolated in solid krypton.

The properties of the 1:1 iodine-benzene complex isolated in a solid Kr matrix at low temperatures have been studied using UV-vis absorption, FTIR, resonance Raman, and femtosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (fs-CARS). The use of all these techniques on similar samples provides a wide view on the spectroscopic properties of the complex and allows comparison and combination of the results from different methods. The results for the complex cover its structure, the changes in the iodine molecule's vibrational frequencies and electronic absorption spectrum upon complexation, and the dynamics of the complexed I(2) molecule on both ground and excited electronic states. In addition, polarization beats between uncomplexed benzene and iodine molecules are detected in the fs-CARS spectra, showing an amplification of an electronically nonresonant CARS signal by the resonant iodine signal. The possibility of controlling the charge-transfer reaction of the I(2)-Bz complex using the excitation of a well-defined ground-state vibrational wavepacket, according to the Tannor-Rice-Kosloff scheme, is discussed on the basis of the experimental findings.