Characterisation by rotational spectroscopy of a hydrogen-bonded dimer formed between H2O and HCN

The rotational spectra in the vibrational ground states of (H₂O, HC¹⁴N) and (H₂O, HC¹⁵N) have been assigned in the frequency range 6–19 GHz. Values of rotational constants (B_O, C_O) and centrifugal distortion constants (Δ_J, Δ_JK) have been determined for both species, while the ¹⁴N-nuclear quadrupole coupling constants x_aa and x_bb have been established for the first. Observations concerning additional hyperfine structure arising from H,H nuclear spin-nuclear spin coupling in the H₂O subunit suggest that (H₂O,HCN) has a pair of equivalent protons and is effectively planar in the zero-point state. Observed spectroscopic constants are consistent only with the arrangement H₂O…HCN, with r(O…C) = 3.1387 Å.