Abstract
To understand pressure effects on dimer structure stability, Raman and FTIR spectroscopies were used to examine changes in H-bonded dimers of benzoic acid (BA). Experiments were performed on single crystals compressed to 33GPa in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Several changes in Raman spectra were observed in the range 6–8GPa indicating modification in the dimer structure suggesting the lowering of molecular symmetry. Pressure increase above 15GPa induced strong luminescence and a gradual change of the crystal color from white to yellow/brownish. FTIR measurements on the sample released from 33GPa indicated formation of a new compound. It is proposed that molecules of this compound are composed of the hydroxyl group associated with alcohol, carbonyl group associated with ketone, and the sp3 hydrocarbon groups. This study demonstrates that sufficient high pressure compression and subsequent decompression can lead to significant changes in the H-bonded dimer structure, including the breaking of bonds and formation of new chemical compound.
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