Mapping molecular conformations with multiple-mode two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy

The multiple-mode two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectrum in a broad frequency range from 1000 to 3200 cm(-1) of a 1-cyanovinyl acetate solution in CCl(4) is reported. By analyzing its relative orientations of the transition dipole moments of normal modes that cover vibrations of all chemical bonds, the three-dimensional molecular conformations and their population distributions of 1-cyanovinyl acetate are obtained, with the aid of quantum chemistry calculations that translate the experimental transition dipole moment cross angles into the cross angles among chemical bonds.