Determination of the lattice vibrations of imidazole by neutron scattering

The external molecular vibrations of deuterated imidazole have been investigated at 12 K for wave vectors along the three principal directions of the Brillouin zone by neutron scattering and by Raman scattering at the zone center. A complete symmetry assignment is obtained. The dominant role of the N-H … N hydrogen bond within the intermolecular interactions is reflected in a relatively simple manner in the shape of the dispersion curves because of the chain-like arrangement of hydrogen bonds. The experiment yields directly a stretching force constant of 0.33 mdyn Å^?1 for this bond. This value is compatible with monopole-dipole and dipole-dipole interactions as major contributions to the attractive interactions of the hydrogen bond of this length (2.86 Å). Relatively strong static monopoles and dipoles are confirmed by a $\text{CNDO}\text{2}$ calculation and are consequently incorporated into the interaction model.