Microwave spectra of isotopic glycolaldehydes,substitution structure,intramolecular hydrogen bond and dipole moment

The microwave spectra of ¹³CH₂OH-CHO, CH₂OH-¹³CHO, and CH₂OH-CH¹⁸O are reported and have been used in combination with previously published data on other monosubstituted glycolaldehydes to determine the substitution structure of the molecule as r(CO) = 1.209 Å, r(C-O) = 1.437 Å, r(C-C) = 1.499 Å, r(O-H) = 1.051 Å, r(C-H_ald) = 1.102 Å, r(C-H_alc) = 1.093 Å, r(O β H) = 2.007 Å, r(O β O) = 2.697 Å, ∠(C-CO) = 122°44', ∠(C-C-H_ald) = 115°16', ∠(C-C-O) = 111°28', ∠(C-O-H) = 101°34', ∠(C-C-H_alc) = 109°13', ∠(H-C-H) = 107°34', ∠(O-H β O) = 120°33', ∠(H β OC) = 83°41', and ∠(O-H, C0) = 24°14'. The intramolecular hydrogen bond and the other structural parameters are discussed and compared to related molecules. The dipole moment is redetermined to be μ_a = 0.262 ±0.002 D, μ_b = 2.33 ± 0.01 D, and μ_tot = 2.34 ± 0.01 D. Relative intensity measurements yielded 195 ± 30 cm^?1 for the C-C torsional fundamental and 260±40 cm^?1 for the lowest in-plane skeletal bending mode. Computations performed by the CNDO/2 method correctly predict the observed cis hydrogen-bonded conformer to be the energetically favoured one and in addition yield some indication of the existence of at least two other non-hydrogen-bonded forms of higher energy.