A large number of laser transitions in the 11–17‐&mgr;m region have been obtained by optically pumping CF4, NOCl, CF3I, and NH3with a single line‐tunable CO2TEA laser. These lasers have respectable conversion efficiency and can be scaled to high energies in a spectral region where the selective excitation of molecules is prerequisite to performing selective photodissociation and laser‐induced chemistry experiments.