Group-theoretical investigation of the tunneling splitting patterns of enolic acetylacetone

Extensive experimental and theoretical studies for enolic acetylacetone have been presented in the literature, but studies of the tunneling splitting patterns are still lacking. In this work we adopt the C_s symmetry equilibrium structure and apply a group-theoretical formalism to study the tunneling splitting pattern of the ground vibrational level of enolic acetylacetone. Enolic acetylacetone has three large-amplitude motions, one intramolecular hydrogen transfer and two methyl torsions. Therefore, the C_s structure of enolic acetylacetone has 18 (3 × 3 × 2) equivalent equilibrium molecular frameworks, nine (3 × 3) of them are from the two methyl torsions, and two are from the intramolecular hydrogen transfer. Tunneling motions among the 18 equivalent molecular frameworks split the ground vibrational level into eight sublevels: A₁, A₄, E₁, E₂, E₃, E₄, G(1) and G(2). In enolic acetylacetone the intramolecular hydrogen transfer induces a rearrangement of the CC, CO single and double bonds, and then triggers two additional 60° internal rotations, one in each of the two methyl groups attached to the hydrogen-bonded malonaldehyde ring. This interaction further complicates the tunneling splitting patterns and increases the difficulty of spectral analysis. In this work the influence of the intramolecular hydrogen transfer on the energy order of the eight sublevels is determined by a group-theoretical formalism.     

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.     

Rotational and Torsional Analysis of the OH-Stretch Third Overtone in CH3OH

We record double resonance spectra of the 4ν₁ band of jet-cooled ¹³C-methanol using single rotational state selection in the ν₁ fundamental and subsequent promotion of the selected molecules to the fourth vibrational level. We then detect transitions to the final excited states by infrared laser assisted photofragment spectroscopy (IRLAPS). The assigned A symmetry transitions reach upper states with K=0 and 1, and J from 0 to 5. For E symmetry, the transitions reach levels with K in the range −3 to 2 and J from 1 to 7. The rotation-torsional analysis determines a value for the torsional tunneling splitting of 2.8±0.4 cm⁻¹ at v₁=4. In a previous paper (J. Chem. Phys.110, 11 359-11 367 (1999)), we reported a trend of monotonically decreasing tunneling splittings in ¹²CH₃OH for v₁=0, 3, and 6 that we explained by a model that incorporates a linear increase in the torsional barrier height with OH stretch excitation. The ¹³CH₃OH tunneling splitting for the 4ν₁ band is in quantitative agreement with the trend found for ¹²CH₃OH.     

The ground state torsion-rotation spectrum of propargyl alcohol (HCCCH2OH)

The rotation-torsion spectrum of the asymmetric frame-asymmetric top internal rotor propargyl alcohol (HCCCH₂OH) has been extended into the millimeter and submillimeter wave spectral regions. Over 2000 ground torsional state transitions have been measured and analyzed up to rotational quantum numbers J = 80 and K_a = 33 through a frequency of 633 GHz. The newly measured transitions were added to approximately 200 previously reported and now unambiguously assigned microwave transitions to comprise a data set of 2390 transitions which has been fit to 59 kHz using a reduced axis method (RAM) Hamiltonian. The ground state has been confirmed to consist of a symmetric and an antisymmetric gauche conformer with no spectroscopic evidence of stable trans conformer. A complete set of rotation and distortion constants through 6th order and a number of the 8th and one 10th order constants for the normal species are presented along with those determined from a re-analysis of the existing OD species data. The a and b symmetry Coriolis interaction constants and the gauche+ gauche− tunnelling frequency of 652389.4 MHz has been determined for the OH species while the b symmetry Coriolis interaction and the 213 480 MHz tunnelling frequency were determined for the OD species.     

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.     

FTIR spectra and rovibrational analysis of the ν11 band of trans-ClHCCHF and ν10 of trans-ClHCCDF

High-resolution Fourier transform infrared spectra of natural trans-ClHCCHF and of its isotopologue trans-ClHCCDF have been recorded in the region between 700 and 1150 cm⁻¹ with the purpose to analyze the ν₁₁ fundamental of the main species and the ν₁₀ of its deuterated compound. Both bands, of symmetry species A″, present c-type envelope absorptions. Beside the expected features, the K structure of the P(J), Q(J), and R(J) manifolds was resolved and identified; the assignment of the rovibrational transitions was extended up to J = 92 and K_a = 13 for the trans-³⁵ClHCCHF and up to J = 86 and K_a = 10 for trans-³⁵ClHCCDF. More than 2900 and 2700 lines for the main and deuterated species, respectively, were analyzed by a least-squares procedure and reliable spectroscopic molecular parameters were determined for both isotopologues.     

Fourier transform microwave spectrum of the CO-dimethyl sulfide complex

The rotational spectrum of the CO-dimethyl sulfide (DMS) complex was measured in the frequency region from 4.8 up to 25 GHz by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. For the normal species 27 a-type and 57 c-type transitions were observed, while 16 and 8 c-type transitions were assigned for the species with ³⁴S and ¹³C in the DMS moiety, respectively, in natural abundance. In addition, 7 a-type and 48 c-type transitions were assigned for the complex with the ¹³CO enriched species as a component and 9 a-type and 42 c-type transitions for the complex with enriched C¹⁸O. No splitting was observed, which could be ascribed to the tunneling motion of the CO between two possible potential minima around DMS, while many transitions were split by the internal-rotation of the two methyl tops of the DMS unit. In cases where the K-type splitting was close to the methyl internal-rotation splitting, forbidden transitions were observed which apparently followed b-type selection rules. All of the observed transition frequencies for the normal species were analyzed simultaneously using a two-top internal-rotation and rotation Hamiltonian. The potential barrier height V₃ to internal rotation of the methyl groups of the DMS was determined to be 745.5 (30) cm⁻¹. The transition frequencies observed for all the isotopomers were analyzed using an asymmetric-rotor rotational Hamiltonian, to determine rotational and centrifugal distortion constants. The r_s coordinates calculated from the observed rotational constants led to the conclusion that the CO moiety was located in a plane perpendicular to the skeletal plane of the DMS and bisecting its CSC angle. This structure of the CO-DMS is very much different from that of the CO-DME, in which the CO is located in the DME skeletal plane. The distance between the centers of gravity of the two moieties, R_cm, was calculated to be 3.789 Å for the CO-DMS, which is longer by only 0.11 Å than that in the CO-DME complex: 3.68 Å, in spite of the fact that the van der Waals radius of the S atom is much larger than that of the O atom. The small difference in R_cm is, in part, ascribed to the location of the CO relative to the DMS/DME. The more important reason is that the intermolecular bonding of the CO-DMS is stronger than that of CO-DME; by assuming a Lennard-Jones-type potential, the force constant of the van der Waals stretching mode and the dissociation energy were estimated to be 2.7 Nm⁻¹ and 3.3 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively, which were larger than those of the CO-DME: 1.4 Nm⁻¹ and 1.6 kJ mol⁻¹.     

External cavity tunable diode laser spectra of the ν1 + 2ν4 stretch-bend combination bands of NH3 and NH3

The ammonia ν₁ + 2ν₄ perpendicular stretch-bend combination band has been investigated in spectra of ¹⁴NH₃ and ¹⁵NH₃ recorded in the 6400-6800 cm⁻¹ region with an external cavity tunable diode laser (ECTDL) spectrometer. For ¹⁴NH₃, new assignments were determined initially by extrapolating from published low-J jet-cooled beam results up to transitions of higher J and K. Corresponding ν₁ + 2ν₄ transitions for the ¹⁵NH₃ species were then found by identifying similar patterns of lines with a characteristic downshift of approximately 9.7 cm⁻¹. Assignments were confirmed employing ground-state combination differences. Term values, a-s inversion splittings, l-doubling energies and parameter estimates from simple single-state fits are reported for the two ammonia species.     

Line-mixing between rotational Stark components of CH3F self-perturbed and perturbed by helium: Experimental results and IOS analysis

Self- and He-broadening coefficients of microwave transitions of CH₃F have been measured with and without the presence of an external electric field. This provides values for the J, K → J + 1, K (K = 0 − J) transitions for J = 1 and J = 3 as well as for the various J, K, M → J + 1, K, M′ (|M| = 0 − K, |M - M′| = 0, 1) Stark components. The results and those of a previous experimental study for pure CH₃F, which show significant line-mixing effects, are analyzed with a model based on the Infinite Order Sudden approximation. It is shown that the latter leads to very satisfactory modeling of observed values even though no parameter was adjusted since previously and independently determined basic cross-sections are used. The quality of the present predictions is comparable with that obtained previously with a semi-classical approach. Furthermore, it is shown that the previously stated inaccuracy of the IOS model was due to an oversimplified use of this approach.     

Assignment, fit, and theoretical discussion of the ν10 band of acetaldehyde near 509 cm

The lowest small-amplitude vibration in acetaldehyde (CH₃CHO) is the in-plane aldehyde scissors mode ν₁₀ at 509 cm⁻¹. This mode lies about 175 cm⁻¹ above the top of the barrier to internal rotation of the methyl group and is relatively well separated from other small-amplitude vibrational states (the next fundamental occurring more than 250 cm⁻¹ higher). It thus provides an excellent example of an isolated small-amplitude fundamental (bright state) embedded in a bath of dark states. Since the bath states at these energies are not too dense, and since they arise purely from states of the large-amplitude torsional vibration of the methyl rotor, a detailed spectroscopic analysis of interactions between the bright state and the bath states should be possible. This paper represents the first step toward that goal. We have assigned several thousand transitions in the ν₁₀ band (J ? 28, K ? 12), and have carried out a simultaneous fit of 2400 of these transitions (J ? 15, K ? 9) with over 8100 transitions to the torsional bath state levels. Three vibration-torsion interactions, which give rise to rather global level shifts of the order of 1 cm⁻¹ in the ν₁₀ levels, have been identified and quantitatively fit. A number of vibration-torsion-rotation interactions, which give rise to localized (avoided-crossing) shifts in ν₁₀ have also been determined. The present analysis indicates the need for reliable spectroscopic information on more of the torsional bath states in the immediate vicinity of the ν₁₀ levels. Possible ways of obtaining such information in future studies are considered.     

The ground and first excited torsional states of methyl carbamate

A global fit within experimental accuracy of microwave and millimeter-wave transitions in the ground and first excited torsional states of methyl carbamate (H₂NC(O)OCH₃) is presented. The data set consisting of 995 v_t = 0 and 731 v_t = 1 transition frequencies combines 1544 new measurements from Kharkov with previously published v_t = 0 microwave lines. In this study the so-called “rho axis method” that treats simultaneously both A and E species of the ground and first excited torsional states is applied to the methyl carbamate data set for the first time. The final fit requires only 32 parameters to achieve a unitless weighted standard deviation for the whole fit of 0.89 for a total of 1726 transitions with rotational quantum numbers up to J ? 20 and K_a ? 10. The barrier to internal rotation of the methyl group obtained in this study, V₃ = 359.141(24) cm⁻¹, is in good agreement with previously published values but more accurate.     

Analysis of the first triad of interacting states (0 2 0), (1 0 0), and (0 0 1) of D2O from hot emission spectra

The far-infrared and middle-infrared emission spectra of deuterated water vapour were measured at temperatures 1370, 1520, and 1940 K in the ranges 320-860 and 1750-3400 cm⁻¹. The measurements were performed in an alumina cell with an effective length of hot gas of about 50 cm. More than 3550 new measured lines for the D₂¹⁶O molecule corresponding to transitions from highly excited rotational levels of the (0 2 0), (1 0 0), and (0 0 1) vibrational states are reported. These new lines correspond to rotational states with higher values of the rotational quantum numbers compared to previously published determinations: J_max = 29 and K_a(max) = 22 for the (0 2 0) state, J_max = 29 and K_a(max) = 25 for the (1 0 0) state, and J_max = 30 and K_a(max) = 23 for the (0 0 1) state. The extended set of 1987 experimental rotational energy levels for the (0 2 0), (1 0 0), and (0 0 1) vibration states including all previously available data has been determined. For the data reduction we used the generating function model. The root mean square (RMS) deviation between observed and calculated values is 0.004 cm⁻¹ for 1952 rovibrational levels of all three vibration states. A comparison of the observed energy levels with the best available values from the literature and with the global predictions from molecular electronic potential energy surfaces of water isotopic species [H. Partridge, D.W. Schwenke, J. Chem. Phys. 106 (1997) 4618] is discussed. The latter confirms a good consistency of mass-dependent DBOC corrections in the PS potential function with new experimental rovibrational data.     

Fourier Transform Infrared spectrum of the OCD bending mode in methanol-D1

The infrared (IR) spectra corresponding to OCD bending vibration of asymmetrically deuterated methanol species CH₂DOH have been recorded with a Fourier Transform Spectrometer. The spectrum shows a typical structure of a parallel a-type band. This is expected because the bending vibration mainly executed parallel to the symmetry axis The Q-branch lines are grouped closely around 896 cm⁻¹ and the P- and R-Branches show complex structure. Nonetheless it was possible to assign a-type P- and R-branch lines up to K value of 8 and J value up to about 20 in most cases. The Q-branch lines for higher K values can be followed to about J = 15, the presence of which confirmed the assignments. The observations suggest that in the OCD bend some energy levels are highly interacted by highly excited torsional state from the ground torsional state. A full catalogue is presented along with the effective molecular parameters. An intensity anomaly was also observed in the transitions. So far it has been possible to assign only transitions between e₀ ← e₀ states. Plausible explanations of intensity anomaly are presented. Lastly, a number of optically pumped far infrared (FIR) laser lines have been assigned either to exact or tentative quantum states. These assignments should prove valuable for production of new FIR laser lines.     

Microwave spectrum and structure of furfural

The microwave spectrum of furfural was investigated in the frequency range 7 GHz-21 GHz and 49 GHz-330 GHz. The ground and first torsional state of trans-furfural and ground state of cis-furfural were assigned and analyzed. A total of 1720 rotational lines with J up to 100 and K_a up to 53 were assigned to the ground state of trans-furfural, 1406 rotational lines with J up to 100 and K_a up to 48 were assigned to the first torsional state of trans-furfural and 2103 rotational lines with J up to 90 and K_a up to 48 to the ground state of cis-furfural. Accurate sets of centrifugal distortion constants for both conformations have been determined for the first time. The spectra of all ¹³C and ¹⁸O singly substituted isotopic species were observed in natural abundance in the 7 GHz-21 GHz range. Molecular structure co-ordinates, bond lengths and angles of the Kraitchman substitution type (r_s) and pseudo-Kraitchman type (r_pKr) are derived from the isotopic studies.     

The millimeter wave spectrum of the CO dimer

The millimeter wave spectrum of the isotopically substituted CO dimer, (¹³C¹⁶O)₂, has been studied for the first time, confirming and extending a recent infrared study. Eighty-seven transitions in the 77-180 GHz region have been assigned and analyzed in terms of a model-independent term value scheme involving 57 rotational levels with J=0-8. The levels can be classified into 7 “stacks” which have symmetry classifications of either A⁻/B⁺ or A⁺/B⁻ and K-values of either 0 or 1. For the normal isotope, symmetry and nuclear spin statistics cause alternate rotational levels to be missing, but for (¹³C¹⁶O)₂ all levels are present with an intensity alternation of 1:3 between A and B symmetries. The four A⁻/B⁺ stacks have not previously been observed, and the lowest of them establishes the tunneling splitting of (¹³C¹⁶O)₂ to be 3.769 cm⁻¹, slightly larger than the (¹²C¹⁶O)₂ value of 3.731 cm⁻¹. A large amount of precise experimental data is now available for the CO dimer, which should lead to greater theoretical insight into its structure and tunneling dynamics.     

A new torsion-rotation fitting program for molecules with a sixfold barrier: Application to the microwave spectrum of toluene

A new program is described for fitting rotation-torsion energy levels in molecules like toluene, in which the frame (C₆H₅) has C_2v symmetry and the methyl top has C_3v symmetry, i.e., for molecules where the internal rotation barrier is expanded in cos6nα, where α is the internal rotation angle and n = 1,2,…. The program is based on the theoretical framework developed by Sørensen and Pedersen in their application of the Longuet-Higgins permutation-inversion group G₁₂ to the microwave spectrum of CH₃NO₂. It is specifically designed for sixfold barrier molecules, and allows the user to select almost any symmetry-allowed torsion-rotation term for inclusion in the fitting Hamiltonian. This program leads to a very successful fit of transitions in the microwave spectrum of toluene characterized by J ? 30, K_a ? 12, and by the free-rotor quantum number ∣m∣ ? 3. In these fits we included both published and rather extensive unpublished new measurements, for which fits using other torsion-rotation programs have not been very successful. The fit presented here uses 28 parameters to give an overall standard deviation of 7.4 kHz for 372 line frequencies, and results in a much improved value for the sixfold barrier for toluene, V₆ = 13.832068(3) cal mol⁻¹.     

Analysis of the rotational spectrum of pyruvonitrile up to 324 GHz

The room-temperature rotational spectrum of pyruvonitrile (acetyl cyanide, CH₃COCN) was measured up to 324 GHz, and additional measurements were also made in supersonic expansion in the region 7-19 GHz. The available data sets for the A and E torsional sublevels were extended to over 1200 transitions, J = 65 and K_a = 38 for the ground vibrational state, and to comparable numbers of transitions for first excited states of the methyl torsional mode ν₁₈, and the in-plane CCN bending mode ν₁₂. The collected experimental measurements were fitted with several different computer programs for dealing with the effects of methyl torsional motion on the rotational spectrum and many spectroscopic constants have been determined. The experimental results are discussed in detail and are augmented by ab initio computations. Stark effect measurements in supersonic expansion were used to precisely determine the electric dipole moment of pyruvonitrile, ∣μ_a∣ = 2.462(2) D, ∣μ_b∣ = 2.442(2) D, μ_tot = 3.468(2) D. Pyruvonitrile, as an 8-atom molecule with a sizable dipole moment, is a possible candidate for astrophysical detection and the present work provides the laboratory data necessary for that purpose.     

Diode laser jet spectra and analysis of the ν14 fundamental of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a)

High resolution infrared spectra have been measured for mixtures of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane in Ne, expanded in a supersonic planar jet. The ν₁₄ fundamental is an essentially unperturbed C-type band, exhibiting many ΔK_c=±2 transitions. Accurate excited state rotational and distortion constants have been determined from an analysis of about 1250 transitions, by using Watson’s Hamiltonian in the S-reduction. A local perturbation has been observed with a crossing at K^′_a=11 for J^′ values between 17 and 18, and could be accounted for by a x-Coriolis interaction with a perturbing vibrational level of A^′ symmetry at about 1205.53(1) cm⁻¹. Due to the very efficient cooling in the jet, the rotational temperature resulted to be about 20 K, and no evidence of hot-band absorption was found.     

The microwave spectrum of isopropenyl acetate - An asymmetric molecule with two internal rotors

The Fourier transform microwave spectrum of isopropenyl acetate (CH₃COOC(CH₃)CH₂) has been measured under molecular beam conditions. The experimental data as well as quantum chemical calculations have shown that this molecule exists as only one conformer of C₁ symmetry, in which the vinyl group is tilted by an angle of approximately 70° against the plane containing the ester group. Due to internal rotation of the acetyl methyl group, we found large A-E splittings of all lines (from a few MHz up to 1 GHz or more). We also were able to resolve the splitting due to the internal rotation of the second isopropenyl methyl group. The A species lines split into doublets and the E species lines into triplets. These splittings vary from 10 kHz up to 1 MHz, much smaller than the splittings due to the acetyl methyl group. By analyzing the spectrum with the program Xiam, a torsional barriers of 135.3498(38) and 711.7(73) cm⁻¹ for the acetyl methyl group and the isopropenyl methyl group were observed, respectively. All lines in the spectrum were also fitted with the program Erham to a standard deviation of only 2.3 kHz.