John Parson's Home Page

Prof. John M. Parson
Vice Chair for Undergraduate Studies
Department of Chemistry
The Ohio State University
100 W. 18th Ave
Columbus, OH 43210

e-mail  parson.2@osu.edu
Undergraduate Chemistry Office: 100 Celeste Lab, phone (614) 292-1204
Research Office: 1056 Evans Lab, phone (614) 292-3267, fax (614) 292-1685
Laboratory: 1070, 1088 Evans Lab, phone (614) 292-2088


Course Information
Summer 2005  Chemistry 701 Homepage

Research Program 
    The research group is characterizing reactive and inelastic collisions by molecular beam techniques that allow products of a single collision to be detected. Molecular electronic emission spectra or laser-excitation spectra allow the determination of energy disposal into product electronic, vibrational and rotational states and offer information about intermolecular forces and severe tests of dynamical theories. The variations of reactivity with initial beam velocity and electronic state also are used. Reactions of current interest involve metal or semi-metal atoms, such as Mn or Sb, with oxidizers such as F2 and O3.
    Using single-collision conditions, the group has been able to prepare highly excited products with well-defined maximum energies. When located near dissociation limits, the product states are often highly perturbed and very difficult to identify when prepared under bulk conditions such as flames or discharges. A combination of electronic emission spectra and laser-excitation spectra, though, has afforded the group information on quasi-bound states of molecules such as BiF, SbF2, CrO2 and PO2.
    The research group has developed ways to vary extensively the relative densities and velocities of metal and semi-metal atoms and small clusters in molecular beams used for studies of reactivity with oxidizing gases. Many bulk kinetic studies have not had sufficient control over these densities to make unambiguous assignments of mechanistic steps. Examples are chemiluminescent reactions of Group VA (P - Bi) with O3.

Publications  1970-2004

Reprints and preprints (pdf files)