The vibrational assignment of phenanthridine molecule based on normal coordinate analysis and DFT

A complete vibrational assignment of phenanthridine C13NH9 has been presented. The infrared (IR) and the Raman spectra of the molecule are analyzed with the help of theoretical prediction of the normal vibrational wavenumbers estimated from normal coordinate analysis (NCA) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. A general valence force field (GVFF) including 31 parameters (13 diagonal and 18 off‐diagonal) reproduces satisfactorily the in‐plane vibrational signatures of the aforesaid molecule and as well as those for the other related hydrocarbons [phenanthrene and benzo(c)cinnoline]. The bivariate and multivariate data analysis reveals that calculated wavenumbers using GVFF are more accurate than the DFT result. However, DFT yields the relative Raman intensities, which are in good agreement with the experimental ones. The decomposition of the normal mode frequencies into those related to different internal coordinates is also discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.