Microwave spectrum, tunneling motions, and quadrupole coupling hyperfine structure of ethylene diamine

New transitions are measured in the microwave spectrum of two conformers of the non-rigid ethylene diamine (CH₂NH₂-CH₂NH₂) molecule using both molecular beam Fourier transform and stark modulation spectroscopy. Ab initio calculations are carried out to obtain geometries and energies for several stationary points of the potential energy surface and to gain quantitative information on the tunneling paths along which the molecule tunnels. The microwave data are reproduced using an IAM-like approach which accounts for the rotational dependence of the tunneling splitting corresponding to the interconversion large amplitude motion. For one of the conformers, the results of this analysis are consistent with the ones obtained through ab initio calculations. Hyperfine patterns are analyzed with the help of a theoretical approach accounting for the large amplitude motion effects and for hyperfine matrix elements within and between tunneling sublevels.     

Methyl torsional state analysis of the jet-cooled microwave spectrum of N-acetylglycine

The microwave spectrum of N-acetylglycine was obtained using a NIST Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer equipped with a heated, pulsed-nozzle source. One conformer has been identified and its spectrum assigned. The conformer has C_S point group symmetry and an intramolecular hydrogen bond between the carbonyl and amide groups of the 5-membered glycine unit. Internal rotation of the methyl rotor group leads to splitting of the rotational lines into A and E symmetry tunneling states. The ¹⁴N nuclear-quadrupole hyperfine structure verifies the rotational and internal-rotor state assignments. The V₃ barrier of 57.5(1) cm⁻¹ and the angles between the C₃ axis of the methyl rotor and the principal inertial axes are in best agreement with the calculated values for the lowest energy conformer of the four conformers predicted at the MP2/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory.     

Millimeter-wave investigation, simplified interpretation of the fourfold rotational spectrum, and dynamics of the internal motions of acetaldehyde-argon

The rotational spectra of the acetaldehyde-argon van der Waals complex have been measured by free jet absorption millimeter-wave spectroscopy in the frequency range 60-78 GHz. Each rotational transition is split into four hyperfine component lines, which is evidence of the occurring of two different internal motions. The splittings have been interpreted in terms of a coupled Hamiltonian that precisely determines the separation of energy levels due to the tunneling of the rare gas atom between two equivalent minima, while the information on the barrier to internal rotation of the methyl group is obtained from the pattern of the component A-E lines due to this motion. The interaction of the rare gas atom with the acetaldehyde moiety is reflected in a reduction of the V₃ barrier to internal rotation in going from the molecule to the weakly bound complex of about 20%. The barrier to the Ar tunnelling has been estimated to be 26 cm⁻¹.     

Vibration-torsion interaction in the microwave spectrum of internally hydrogen-bonded methylmalonaldehyde

The microwave spectrum of methylmalonaldehyde has been measured and the molecule shown to be in an intramolecularly hydrogen-bonded (chelate ring) form in the gas phase. The spectrum shows the effects of two large amplitude internal motions: the torsion of the methyl group about its symmetry axis and the tunneling of the hydrogen-bond hydrogen through a potential barrier to an equivalent position (combined with an appropriate CH₃ rotation). The two motions are coupled through the torsion-inversion potential energy term of threefold symmetry in the torsional coordinate. A two vibration-plus-rotation model is developed and applied to explain the sizeable perturbations of the pure rotational transitions from a rigid rotor pattern in four ground-state sublevels. The observed torsion-inversion splittings in the nondegenerate level (2.8004 cm^?1 for $\text{OCHC(CH}{}_3\text{)CHOH}$, 0.35920 cm^?1 for $\text{OCHC(CH}{}_3\text{)CHOD}$ and 0.92590 cm^?1 for $\text{OCHC(CD}{}_3\text{)CHOH)}$ are quite well determined and, as expected, depend strongly upon appropriate isotopic substitutions. The experimentally derived parameters are discussed in terms of an effective inversion-torsion potential surface. The data are not in disagreement with a range of barrier values determined from comparison of ab initio full geometry-optimized and constrained C_2v geometry-optimized molecular orbital calculations. Because of the expected isotope dependence of the effective surface and the large number of parameters involved, it is not clear whether more accurate fitting to the data is justified.     

Microwave spectroscopic study of the CO-H2S complex

Rotational spectra of the CO-H₂S complex were studied using a cavity Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. Altogether 16 isotopomers were investigated. The tunneling splitting due to interchange of the “bonded” and “non-bonded” hydrogen (deuterium) nuclei of the H₂S (D₂S) subunit was observed and analyzed. In addition, the nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structures due to the quadrupolar ³³S and ¹⁷O nuclei could be resolved and analyzed. The resulting rotational, tunneling, and hyperfine constants were used to derive structural and dynamical information about the complex.     

Microwave spectra and centrifugal distortion constants of oxetane

The microwave spectra of oxetane (trimethylene oxide) and its three symmetrically deuterated isotopic species have been observed on a Hewlett-Packard microwave spectrometer from 26.5 to 40 GHz. For the parent species, the β-d₂ and the αα′-d₄ species, about 300 lines have been assigned for each molecule, and for the d₆ species more than 600 lines have been assigned. The assignments range from v = 0 to v = 5 in the puckering vibration; although they are mostly Q transitions, either 3 or 4 R transitions have been observed for each vibrational state.The spectra have been interpreted using an effective rotational hamiltonian for each vibrational state, including five quartic distortion constants according to Watson's formulation, and a variable number of sextic distortion constants; in general, the lines are fitted to about ± 10 kHz. The distortion constants show an anomalous zig-zag dependence on the puckering vibrational quantum number, similar to that first observed for the rotational constants by Gwinn and coworkers. This is interpreted according to a simple modification of the standard theory of centrifugal distortion, involving the double minimum potential function in the puckering coordinate.     

The sites and dynamics of p-xylene guest molecules in Dianin’s inclusion compound; a deuteron NMR study

Single crystals of Dianin’s inclusion compound with methyl and ring deuterated p-xylene guest molecules were grown and studied by FT deuteron NMR. The spectra from the deuterated methyl groups reveal that these groups reorient rapidly down to 12K; thereafter they enter into the tunneling regime. The rings of the p-xylene guests become motionless whenT reaches 110K. By measuring the orientation dependence of the quadrupole splittings, determining from these data the quadrupole coupling tensors of the ring deuterons and relating these tensors to the C-D bond directions we infer the sites of the p-xylene guests in the cages of Dianin’s inclusion compound. We find two sets of independent sites. Each contains three C₃ related individual sites. In each set the population of one of the sites is strongly depleted. The only large-anlge molecular motions are 180° rotational jumps about the long molecular axes. From measurements ofT ₁ we conclude that these jumps are thermally activated,τ ₀ = 5·10^?14 s, ΔE=20 kJ/mol. Additional motions are rapid librations, also about the long molecular axes. Their amplitude increases with increasing temperature, at 300 K it reaches 20°. With 2D-exchange spectra we demonstrate that a p-xylene guest cannot change its site on a timescale of 100 ms and a tempering experiment suggests that this is true on a timescale of several days even atT=371 K.     

Oscillations of echo amplitude in glasses in a magnetic field induced by nuclear dipole-dipole interaction

The influence of a magnetic field on the dipole echo amplitude in glasses (at temperatures of about 10 mK) induced by the dipole-dipole interaction of nuclear spins has been theoretically studied. It has been shown that a change in the mutual position of nuclear spins at tunneling and the Zeeman energy E _H of their interaction with the external magnetic field lead to a nonmonotonic magnetic-field dependence of the dipole echo amplitude. The approximation that the nuclear dipole-dipole interaction energy E _d is much smaller than the Zeeman energy has been found to be valid in the experimentally important cases. It has been shown that the dipole echo amplitude in this approximation may be described by a simple universal analytic function independent of the microscopic structure of the two-level systems. An excellent agreement of the theory with the experimental data has been obtained without fitting parameters (except for the unknown echo amplitude).     

Rotational spectrum of trifluoroacetone

The rotational spectra of 5 isotopologues of 1,1,1-trifluoroacetone have been assigned using pulsed-jet Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy. All rotational transitions appear as doublets, due to the internal rotation of the methyl group. Analysis of the tunneling splittings using both the principal axis method (PAM) and the combined axis method (CAM) methods allows to determine accurately the height of the threefold barrier to internal rotation of the methyl group, and its orientation, leading to V₃ = 3.28 and 3.10 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively. The r_s geometry of the molecular skeleton, a partial r₀ structure of the molecule and supporting ab initio calculations are also reported.     

Rotational spectrum,structure and internal motions of the ethylene-OCS weakly bound dimer

The rotational spectra of five isotopomers of the ethylene-OCS dimer have been observed by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and its structure was determined. The dipole moment components and rotational constants for this complex are consistent with a stacked geometry in which the OCS lies above the ethylene molecular plane, approximately parallel to the C=C bond. Two internal motions of the monomer subunits split each rotational transition into four components. The larger tunneling splittings have been analysed to give a twofold barrier for the internal motion of the ethylene subunit about its c inertial axis of 16(3) cm^?1. The results are compared with calculations with a semi-empirical model employing electrostatic, dispersion and repulsion interactions.     

A rotational Hamiltonian for the ground vibrational state of hydrazine

A Hamiltonian matrix suitable for fitting rotational energy levels of the hydrazine molecule in its ground vibrational and electronic states was obtained. This matrix is of dimension 16 × 16, where the 16 functions labeling the rows and columns consist of the two members of a near-prolate asymmetric rotor doublet (with given | K_a |) for the eight different, but chemically equivalent, conformers which the molecule can reach by various combinations of -NH₂ inversion at either end of the molecule, and internal rotation about the NN bond. The matrix is derived in a phenomenological fashion, by applying group theoretical arguments to a model in which tunneling among the various frameworks is assumed to be very slow compared with the vibrational frequencies. A comprehensive treatment of the large-amplitude vibrational potential surfaces and associated tunneling pathways has not been carried out, nor have quartic (J⁴) centrifugal distortion effects been considered in a systematic fashion. Preliminary fits indicate that the model developed can be used to fit the hydrazine microwave data in a consistent fashion, and a full treatment of such data has been undertaken.     

Analysis of the pure-rotational spectrum in the ν28 = 1 excited torsional state and torsional couplings of trans-ethyl methyl ether

The trans-ethyl methyl ether molecule has three low-lying torsional modes, that is, two inequivalent methyl internal rotations and an asymmetric skeletal torsion. The internal rotations of the CCH₃ and OCH₃ methyl rotors and the skeletal torsion correspond to the vibrational modes, ν₂₈, ν₂₉ and ν₃₀ respectively. In this study, the microwave absorption spectrum in the ν₂₈ = 1 CCH₃ torsional state was analyzed for the first time. Nine hundred fifty seven lines up to J = 48 and K = 4 were assigned, and the rotational, centrifugal distortion and internal rotational tunneling parameters were determined with the use of a tunneling matrix formalism. By combining the present results on the ν₂₈ = 1 torsional state with those for the ν₃₀ = 1 skeletal torsional state and the ν₂₉ = 1 OCH₃ torsional state, torsional couplings are estimated in order to understand quantitatively the inverted A/E sequence patterns observed for those three excited torsional states.     

The rotational spectrum of the ground state of methylamine

Recent progress is reported in measuring, assigning, and fitting the rotational spectrum of the ground vibrational state of methylamine, CH₃NH₂, a spectrum complicated both by internal rotation of the methyl top and by inversion of the amino group. New measurements of 513 rotational transitions with J up to 30 and K up to 9 were carried out between 49 and 326 GHz using the millimeter-wave spectrometer in Kharkov. After removing the observed quadrupole hyperfine splittings, these new data along with previously published measurements were fitted to a group-theoretical high-barrier tunneling Hamiltonian from the literature, using 53 parameters to give an overall weighted standard deviation of 0.80 for 850 far-infrared and 673 microwave transitions in the ground state. The root-mean-square deviation of 0.018 MHz obtained for 346 millimeter-wave transitions measured with 0.020 MHz uncertainty represents an approximately 30-fold improvement in fitting accuracy over past attempts.     

Comparison of experimental microwave tunneling data with calculations based on Maxwell's equations

We compare microwave tunneling experiments using three types of potentials with calculations describing these systems, using only Maxwell's equations. The values obtained are identical within a very narrow error limit. Thus, microwave tunneling through evanescent waveguide regions, including superluminal tunneling velocities, is described by Maxwell's equations. The dispersion relation yields purely imaginary, complex, or real k-values. As an analogy, microwave tunneling presents an ideal tool for studying quantum mechanical tunneling.     

Far-infrared spectrum and ground state constants of methyl amine

The far-infrared spectrum of methyl amine has been studied in the region 40 to 350 cm⁻¹ by Fourier transform spectroscopy with an apodized resolution of 0.005 cm⁻¹ or better. Both the pure rotational spectrum and the spectrum of the fundamental torsional band have been assigned. This paper reports the ground state constants obtained from a global fitting of a data set including ground state microwave transitions from the literature, as well as far-infrared pure rotational ground state transitions and ground state combination differences from the torsional band obtained in this work. Slightly over 1000 energy differences for the ground state with 0 ≦ K ≦ 19 and K ≦ J ≦ 30 were fit to 30 molecular parameters from a group theoretical formalism developed earlier, and a standard deviation of ±0.00063 cm⁻¹ was obtained. An ambiguity (noted earlier in the microwave literature) in the determination of the structural parameter ϱ, which arises when two large amplitude motions are present in the molecule, can be understood and resolved using the present formalism.     

AC conductivity and mechanism of conduction study of lithium barium pyrophosphate Li<Subscript>2</Subscript>BaP<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>7</Subscript> using impedance spectroscopy

The Li₂BaP₂O₇ compound has been obtained by the conventional solid-state reaction and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction. The title material crystallizes in the monoclinic system with C2/c space group. Electrical properties of the compound have been studied using complex impedance spectroscopy in the frequency range 200 Hz–5 MHz and temperature range 589–724 K. Temperature dependence of the DC conductivity and modulus was found to obey the Arrhenius law. The obtained values of activation energy are different which confirms that transport in the titled compound is not due to a simple hopping mechanism. AC conductivity measured follows the power-law dependence σ _AC?～?ω ^s typical for charge transport. Therefore, the experimental results are analyzed with various theoretical models. Temperature dependence of the power law exponent s strongly suggests that tunneling of large polarons is the dominant transport process.     

Matrix isolation study of the infrared spectrum and structure of the CH3 free radical

A reproducibly good yield of CH₃ has been obtained in matrix isolation studies of the products of the interaction of CH₄ with electronically excited argon atoms produced in a microwave discharge. Detailed observations have been conducted in the ν₂ vibrational fundamental region of all of the CH₃-d_n species isolated in an argon matrix at temperatures between 11 and 20 K. The temperature dependence of the CH₃-d_n band structures is in good agreement with that calculated for the superposition of low-J rotational transitions on the ν₂ vibrational absorption of the planar molecule; the rotational energy levels do not undergo major perturbation in the argon matrix environment, and there is no evidence for the occurrence of inversion splitting. Rotational structure has also been observed in the ν₄ absorption of CH₃. The argon matrix observations have confirmed that the previously reported quartic anharmonicity of CH₃ is a molecular property rather than a result of matrix interactions.     

Tunneling conductivity in lithiated transition metal oxide cathode Li<Subscript>0.9</Subscript>[Ni<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Co<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>]O<Subscript>1.95</Subscript>

Electrical complex ac conductivity of the compound Li_0.9[Ni_1/3Mn_1/3Co_1/3]O_1.95 has been studied in the frequency range 10 Hz–2 MHz and in the temperature range 93–373 K. It has been observed that the frequency dependence of the ac conductivity obeys a power law and the temperature dependence of the ac conductivity is quite weak. The experimental data have been analyzed in the framework of several theoretical models based on quantum mechanical tunneling and classical hopping over barriers. It has been observed that the electron tunneling is dominant in the temperature range from 93 K to 193 K. A crossover of relaxation mechanism from electron tunneling to polaron tunneling is observed at 193 K. Out of the several models discussed, the electron tunneling and the polaron tunneling models are quite consistent with the experimental data for the complex ac conductivity. The various parameters obtained from the fits of the experimental results for the real and imaginary parts of the conductivity to the predictions of these models are quite reasonable.     

Collisions between linear polar molecules trapped in a microwave field

The collisions between linear polar molecules, trapped in a microwave field with circular polarization, are theoretically analyzed. We demonstrate that the collisional dynamics is mostly controlled by two ratios ν/B and x=μ₀E₀/ħ B (ν is the microwave frequency, B is the molecular rotational constant, μ₀ is the dipole moment, and E₀ is the electric field amplitude). We discuss the dependence of collision cross sections on these ratios in order to find an advantageous condition for evaporative cooling.     

Determination of the skeletal bending potential function for SiH3NCO from the microwave spectrum

The rotation-bending-torsion Hamiltonian (M. Kr?glewski, J. Mol. Spectrosc., in press) is used to simultaneously fit observed rotational transitions (J. A. Duckett, Ph.D. thesis, University of Reading, 1976) of silyl isocyanate SiH₃NCO in 18 vibrational states involving excited quanta of the ν₁₀ SiNC skeletal bending mode. The effective SiNC bending potential energy function and the geometry of the molecule in the small amplitude vibrational ground state are determined from the microwave data.