Vibrational coupling pathways in methanol as revealed by coherence-converted population transfer Fourier transform microwave infrared double-resonance spectroscopy.

Coherence-converted population transfer infrared-microwave double-resonance spectroscopy is used to record the infrared spectra of jet-cooled CH(3)OH and CH(3)OD. Population transfer induced by a pulsed IR laser is detected by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy background-free using a two-MW pulse sequence. The observed spectrum of CH(3)OH in the nu(3) symmetric CH stretch region contains 12 interacting vibrational bands, whereas in CH(3)OD, only one vibrational band is observed in the same interval (2750-2900 cm(-1)). The bright state, responsible for the transitions observed in this region, is not just nu(3) but also contains an admixture of the binary CH bending combinations, particularly 2nu(5). The lack of interacting bands in CH(3)OD confirms that in CH(3)OH the binary combinations of the OH bend (nu(6)) and a CH bend (nu(4), nu(5), nu(10)) act as doorway states linking the bright state to higher order combination vibrations involving torsional excitation. A time-dependent interpretation of the frequency-resolved spectra reveals a fast (approximately 200 fs) initial decay of the bright state followed by a slower (1-2 ps) redistribution among the lower frequency modes.