Abstract: | Experimental data (obtained by the authors and taken from the literature) on the structure and conformations of carbonyl molecules in the ground and lower excited electronic states are presented. The structure of carbonyl fragments, the orientation of substituent groups, the energy of the molecules in excited states, and the potential functions of the internal rotation and inversion are considered. The structural similarities of the molecules are discussed. M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Chemical Faculty. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 36, No. 2, pp. 269–285, March–April, 1995. Translated by I. Izvekova |