A molecular beam study of weakly bound bimolecular complexes containing SO₂

The potential importance of bimolecular complexes in atmospheric processes is reviewed. Many observations suggest weakly bound species play significant roles in the atmosphere. Since the lack of binding energy data for such clusters makes definite conclusions difficult, experimental studies of the interaction of SO₂ with 18 different molecular binding partners was carried out. The relative binding energy of these complexes was estimated by observing how effectively a given cluster competed with the formation of other weakly bound species in a supersonic molecular beam source. Trends, and possible explanations for such trends, are discussed.