The vibrational spectra of some isotopic species of propionitrile

The infrared and Raman spectra of CH₃CH₂CN, CH₃CD₂CN, and CD₃CH₂CN, and the infrared spectrum of CH₃CH₂¹³CN were investigated in detail between 6000 and 100 cm⁻¹. Some infrared measurements of other isotopic species are also reported and partial assignments given. All fundamentals of propionitrile-d₀, -d₂, -d₃, and -¹³CN were assigned, together with a large number of mainly binary combination bands for which a general method of assignment is given. Several Fermi resonances were detected and the unperturbed positions of some of the levels involved were calculated. Special attention was paid to the CH stretching vibrations for which persisting wrong assignments exist in the literature, and to the methyl torsion frequencies which were determined for the four isotopic species above. A valence force field was calculated, and the potential energy distribution of the normal vibrations is tabulated.