Raman and infrared investigations at room temperature of the internal modes behaviour in solid nitromethane‐h3 and ‐d3 up to 45 GPa

Raman and infrared spectra of internal phonons in solid nitromethane‐h₃ and ‐d₃ were measured as a function of pressure in the range 0–40 GPa at room temperature. Experiments were performed in diamond anvil cells. The evolution of the splitting of the various modes in condition of nearly hydrostatic compression supports the maintenance of the P2₁2₁2₁ crystal structure until the material chemically transforms into an amorphous phase. The observed pressure‐induced shifts of vibrational wavenumbers are consistent with computations recently reported in the literature. Infrared and Raman spectroscopies deliver complementary information on the internal modes behaviour. The continuous evolution of the infrared band shapes suggests a weak molecular distortion during the compression process. The strong modifications that are observed in the Raman bands of the nitro group are attributed to polarization effects arising from a rearrangement of the molecules inside the unit cell in the pressure range 10–12 GPa, a consequence of a close intermolecular O…H approach. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.