Noncovalent C···N Interaction to Capture CO₂ on a Neutral Aromatic Molecule in the Gas Phase: Experimental Determination of the UV-Induced Adsorption Energy

This work describes a novel experimental method to determine the adsorption energy of a molecular complex in the ground and excited states. An increased CO 2 capture efficiency was obtained upon electronic excitation of nitrogen-containing heterocycles, due to the formation of strong C···N noncovalent interaction. We performed a combined experimental and computational investigations, to understand the noncovalent interaction between carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and 2-(2′-pyridyl)benzimidazole (PBI) in the gas phase. Using R2PI, UV–UV hole burning, and IDIR spectroscopic technique, we characterized the PBI–CO 2 complex. The S 0 → S 1 origin band of the PBI–CO 2 complex was red-shifted by 329 cm –1 relative to that of the PBI monomer, indicating that the PBI–CO 2 complex become more stable upon UV absorption. Therefore, the adsorption energy of CO 2 on PBI increased by nearly 30% upon electronic excitation due to the higher stability of the complex in the excited state, which was bound to the adsorbent mainly via the C···N interaction.