Fourier Transform Microwave Spectroscopy Research Articles

Modeling the internal rotation tunnelling in benzyl alcohol by ring fluorination: The rotational spectrum of 3,5-difluorobenzyl alcohol

The rotational spectra of the OH and OD isotopologues of 3,5-difluorobenzyl alcohol have been measured by pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. The main structural evidence is that the OCα-C1C2 dihedral angle, approximately 20°, is ca. 40° smaller than in benzyl alcohol. This difference is reflected in the features of the rotational spectrum: μc-type (instead of μb-) transitions are split into two evenly spaced component lines (by 14.367(1) × 2 MHz) showing that the CH2OH group undergoes a tunnelling motion which connects two equivalent minima above and below the aromatic ring. The barrier for the interconversion of the two mirror form has been estimated from the experimental tunnelling splitting to be 380 cm−1.

Microwave spectra and nuclear quadrupole structure of the NH3-N2 van der Waals complex and its deuterated isotopologues.

The microwave spectrum of the NH3-N2 van der Waals complex has been observed in a supersonic molecular jet expansion via broadband (2-8 GHz) chirped-pulse Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy. Two pure rotational R(0) transitions (J = 1 - 0) with different hyperfine structure patterns were detected. One transition belongs to the (ortho)-NH3-(ortho)-N2 nuclear spin isomer in the ground K = 0 state reported earlier [G. T. Fraser et al., J. Chem. Phys. 84, 2472 (1986)], while another one is assigned to the (para)-NH3-(para)-N2 spin isomer in the K = 0 state not reported before (K is the projection of the total angular momentum J on the intermolecular axis). The complicated hyperfine structure arising from three quadrupole 14N nuclei of NH3-N2 was resolved for both transitions, and the quadrupole coupling constants associated with the NH3 and N2 subunits were precisely determined for the first time. These constants provided the dynamical information about the angular orientation of ammonia and nitrogen indicating that the average angle between the C 3 axis of NH3 and the N2 axis is about 66°. The average van der Waals bond lengths are slightly different for (ortho)-NH3-(ortho)-N2 and (para)-NH3-(para)-N2 and amount to 3.678 Å and 3.732 Å, respectively. Similar results for the deuterated isotopologues, ND3-N2, NHD2-N2, and NH2D-N2, and their nuclear spin isomers were also obtained thus confirming and extending the analysis for the parent NH3-N2 complex.

Gas phase detection and rotational spectroscopy of ethynethiol, HCCSH

ABSTRACTWe report the gas-phase detection and spectroscopic characterisation of ethynethiol (), a metastable isomer of thioketene () using a combination of Fourier-transform microwave and submillimetre-wave spectroscopies. Several a-type transitions of the normal species were initially detected below 40 GHz using a supersonic expansion-electrical discharge source, and subsequent measurement of higher-frequency, b-type lines using double resonance provided accurate predictions in the submillimetre region. With these, searches using a millimetre-wave absorption spectrometer equipped with a radio frequency discharge source were conducted in the range 280–660 GHz, ultimately yielding nearly 100 transitions up to and . From the combined data set, all three rotational constants and centrifugal distortion terms up to the sextic order were determined to high accuracy, providing a reliable set of frequency predictions to the lower end of the THz band. Isotopic substitution has enabled both a determination of the molecular structure of HCCSH and, by inference, its formation pathway in our nozzle discharge source via the bimolecular radical-radical recombination reaction , which is calculated to be highly exothermic (−477 kJ/mol) using the HEAT345(Q) thermochemical scheme.

Structure and methyl torsion of halogenated toluenes: Rotational spectrum of 3,4-difluorotoluene

The rotational spectrum of 3,4-difluorotoluene, final in the series of difluorotoluenes to be studied in the microwave region, has been investigated using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy on a pulsed supersonic jet in the region 5–25 GHz. The tunneling splitting due to the methyl internal rotation in the ground torsional state could be unambiguously identified and the three-fold (V3) potential barrier hindering the internal rotation of the methyl top was determined as 406.280(37) J mol−1. The ground-state rotational constants for the parent and seven 13C isotopic species in natural abundance were determined with high accuracy. The electric dipole moment μ = 3.0396 (51) D was obtained from Stark effect measurements. The structure of the C-atom frame was derived using the substitution (rs) method. Supporting ab initio (B3LYP/MP2) calculations provided comparative values for the potential barrier and molecular parameters.

The Structural Signs of Sweetness in Artificial Sweeteners: A Rotational Study of Sorbitol and Dulcitol

A gas-phase study on the artificial sweeteners sorbitol and dulcitol has been carried out for the first time by using a combination of chirped-pulse Fourier-transform microwave (CP-FTMW) spectroscopy and laser ablation (LA). The isolation conditions provided by the supersonic expansion reveal the intrinsic conformational structures of these sweeteners. The three and five observed conformers for sorbitol and dulcitol, respectively, are stabilized by networks of cooperative intramolecular hydrogen bonds between vicinal hydroxyl groups in clockwise or counterclockwise arrangements. Suitable places in the structure of seven out of eight conformers identified for both polyalcohols meet the requirements of the glucophore proposed by Shallenberger and Acree's molecular theory of sweet taste. Present results provide the first linkage between sweetness and structure in sugar alcohols.

Microwave spectrum and non-covalent interactions of the 1, 2, 3, 4-tetrafluorobenzene-water complex

The 1, 2, 3, 4-tetrafluorobenzene-water complex was investigated by pulsed-jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. One isomer was detected in the jet expansion. Ab initio calculations and non-covalent interaction (NCI) analysis were performed to characterize the intermolecular NCIs. In the observed isomer, the water molecule lies almost in the plane of the benzene ring acting as a proton donor to one of the fluorine atoms and as an acceptor to one of the hydrogen atoms forming a six-membered ring structure. The CH⋯O and H⋯FC bonding distances are determined to be 2.385(1) Å and 2.429(1) Å, respectively. The interaction energy is calculated to be -18.0 kJ mol-1 at the SAPT2+(3)/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory. The observed transitions exhibit splitting in the order of tens to hundreds of kHz due to the internal rotation of water moiety. The possible tunneling paths of water were investigated by ab initio calculations resulting in a barrier for an internal rotation of about 201 cm-1.

From High-Energy C7H2 Isomers with A Planar Tetracoordinate Carbon Atom to An Experimentally Known Carbene.

In this work, we use high-level ab initio procedures to show that the high-energy isomers of C7H2 with a planar tetracoordinate carbon (ptC) atom serve as reactive intermediate leading to the formation of an experimentally known ring-chain carbene, 1-(buta-1,3-diynyl)cyclopropenylidene (2). Among the experimentally known isomers of C7H2, the latter is the only low-lying ring-chain carbene identified by Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy. Here we investigate the ring-opening pathways of C-C single bonds connected to the ptC atom in three different C7H2 isomers using coupled-cluster and density functional theory methods. These three isomers [ptC1 ( C2 v; X̃1A1), ptC2 ( C s; X̃1A'), and ptC3 ( C s; X̃1A')] are found to be local minima on the C7H2 potential-energy surface at both CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ and B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) levels of theory. The transition states and minimum-energy pathways connecting the reactants (ptC isomers) and the products have been found via intrinsic reaction coordinate calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. The high-energy ptC isomers (ptC2 and ptC3) lead to the formation of 2, while the low-energy ptC isomer, ptC1, rearranges to a bicyclic carbene, bicyclo[4.1.0]hepta-4,6-diene-2-yne-7-ylidene (6). In the latter, we note that both the reactant and the product are yet to be identified in the laboratory. Relative energies, activation energies, reaction energies, and nucleus independent chemical shift values have been calculated to access the thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities and the aromatic nature of these peculiar molecules. Rotational and centrifugal distortion constants have also been estimated for all ptC isomers, which may assist the efforts of microwave spectroscopists.

Halogen bond in the water adduct of chloropentafluoroethane revealed by rotational spectroscopy.

The rotational spectrum of the chloropentafluoroethane-water complex has been investigated by pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Experimental rotational and quadrupole coupling constants of five isotopologues imply that the two subunits are held together by an almost linear C-Cl⋯O halogen bond. Water lies effectively in the symmetric plane of C2F5Cl and undergoes a plausible free internal rotation. The experimental structure and dissociation energies of the complex are also deduced.

Competing Intramolecular Hydrogen Bond Strengths and Intermolecular Interactions in the 4-Aminobutanol-Water Complex.

We seek to determine the effect of competing intermolecular hydrogen bonds from water on the preferred conformation of 4-aminobutanol (4AB) monomers stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Toward this end, the rotational spectrum of the 4-aminobutanol-H2O complex was recorded using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and fit to the rotational, quadrupole coupling, and centrifugal distortion constants of the Watson S-reduction Hamiltonian. The experimental results are consistent with a 4AB-water complex that preserves the intramolecular hydrogen bond within the 4AB monomer and forms a single intermolecular bond with water acting as a donor. The experimental monomer structure agrees well with the lowest energy conformation calculated at the MP2/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. Upon complex formation and the introduction of competing intermolecular bonds from water, only small changes in the OH···N intramolecular hydrogen bond and backbone torsional angles of the 4-aminobutanol monomer are observed. Similar small changes were observed for the shorter chain 3-aminopropanol amino alcohol monomer when complexed with water, in contrast to the 2-aminoethanol-H2O complex. In the latter, a large change in the backbone torsional angle and a breaking of the intramolecular hydrogen bond were observed. Thus, extending the methylene chain results in an increase in the strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bond in unbranched amino alcohols.

Conformational effect on the almost free internal rotation in 4-hexyn-3-ol studied by microwave spectroscopy and quantum chemistry.

The microwave spectrum of 4-hexyn-3-ol, CH3-C≡C-CH(OH)-CH2CH3, was recorded in the frequency range of 2-26.5 GHz by molecular jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. The conformational analysis based on quantum chemical calculations yielded nine conformers exhibiting C1 symmetry, of which three could be assigned in the experimental spectrum. The propynyl methyl group CH 3 -C≡C- experiences internal rotation with a very low barrier due to the presence of the cylindrically symmetric -C≡C- group serving as a spacer to the rest of the molecule, which is 7.161 012(7) cm-1, 4.236 5(26) cm-1, and 7.901 6(39) cm-1 for the three assigned conformers, respectively. The spectrum was analyzed with the program XIAM using the combined axis method and the program BELGI-C 1 using the rho axis method and a very flexible Hamiltonian which yields fits with root-mean-square deviations within the measurement accuracy.

Torsional splitting and the four-fold barrier to internal rotation: The rotational spectra of vinylsulfur pentafluoride.

Vinylsulfur pentafluoride (VSPF), a molecule with a four-fold internal rotor, -SF4, has been studied with high resolution Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. We believe that this is the first report of resolved four-fold internal rotation. As such, we have presented the tools needed to understand and analyze such a problem. These include debugging the ERHAM computer program necessary to fit the spectra and the free rotor to high barrier correlation diagram necessary to understand the torsional states of the four-fold rotor. The A, E, and B torsional state rotational transitions are well resolved and assigned. Spectroscopic transitions of four isotopologues of VSPF, H2C=CH-SF5, the normal isotopologue, and the singly substituted 34S and 13C isotopologues were measured and assigned. Contrary to expectation, the A torsional state could not be fit with only a semi-rigid Hamiltonian. The barrier to internal rotation, V 4, is found to be 227 cm-1. Ab initio calculations at the MP2 aug-cc-pVQZ level of theory and basis set were performed and the results of this calculation are compared to our experimental results.

The rotational spectrum and potential energy surface of the Ar-SiO complex.

The rotational spectra of five isotopic species of the Ar-SiO complex have been observed at high-spectral resolution between 8 and 18 GHz using chirped Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and a discharge nozzle source; follow-up cavity measurements have extended these measurements to as high as 35 GHz. The spectrum of the normal species is dominated by an intense progression of a-type rotational transitions arising from increasing quanta in the Si-O stretch, in which lines up to = 12 (∼14 500 cm-1) were identified. A structural determination by isotopic substitution and a hyperfine analysis of the Ar-Si17O spectrum both suggest that the complex is a highly fluxional prolate symmetric rotor with a vibrationally averaged structure between T-shaped and collinear in which the oxygen atom lies closer to argon than the silicon atom, much like Ar-CO. To complement the experimental studies, a full dimensional potential and a series of effective vibrationally averaged, two-dimensional potential energy surfaces of Ar + SiO have been computed at the CCSD(T)-F12b/CBS level of theory. The equilibrium structure of Ar-SiO is predicted to be T-shaped with a well depth of 152 cm-1, but the linear geometry is also a minimum, and the potential energy surface has a long, flat channel between 140 and 180°. Because the barrier between the two wells is calculated to be small (of order 5 cm-1) and well below the zero-point energy, the vibrationally averaged wavefunction is delocalized over nearly 100° of angular freedom. For this reason, Ar-SiO should exhibit large amplitude zero-point motion, in which the vibrationally excited states can be viewed as resonances with long lifetimes. Calculations of the rovibrational level pattern agree to within 2% with the transition frequencies of normal and isotopic ground state Ar-SiO, and the putative K a = ±1 levels for Ar-28SiO, suggesting that the present theoretical treatment well reproduces the salient properties of the intramolecular potential.

Finding the Better Fit: The Microwave Spectrum and Sterically Preferred Structure of trans-1,2-Difluoroethylene-Hydrogen Chloride.

The rotational spectrum of the gas-phase bimolecular heterodimer formed between trans-1,2-difluoroethylene and hydrogen chloride is obtained using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy from 5.6 to 20.6 GHz. Analysis of the spectrum provides rotational constants and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants that are used to determine the structure of the complex. The HCl molecule forms a hydrogen bond with one of the two electrostatically equivalent fluorine atoms of the difluoroethylene, and this hydrogen bond bends from linearity to allow a secondary interaction between the chlorine atom and the hydrogen atom located cis to the fluorine atom in the hydrogen bond. Because the two hydrogen atoms are likewise electrostatically equivalent, the structure indicates that this is the sterically preferred arrangement in HCl binding to a fluoroethylene rather than the one with the secondary interaction to the geminal hydrogen atom. Detailed comparisons among the geometries of the complexes formed between HCl and HF, on the one hand, and vinyl fluoride, 1,1-difluoroethylene, trans-1,2-difluoroethylene, 1,1,2-trifluoroethylene, and ( E)-1-chloro-2-fluoroethylene, on the other, reveal structural trends accompanying increasing fluorination and substitution of chlorine for fluorine.

Rotational spectra and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants of 4- and 2-iodoimidazole

Pure rotational spectra of 4-iodoimidazole and 2-iodoimidazole have been measured and assigned to determine rotational, centrifugal distortion and nuclear quadrupole coupling constants. Samples of each isomer were laser-vaporised from the surface of a solid target rod using the focussed pulse of a Nd:YAG laser prior to cooling via supersonic co-expansion with argon buffer gas. Microwave spectra were recorded by chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy between 2.0 and 18.5 GHz. Inertial defects of 4-iodoimidazole and 2-iodoimidazole were determined to be 0.0906(1) a.m.u. Å2 and 0.0814(2) a.m.u. Å2 respectively, consistent with rigid planar geometries for these molecules. The evaluated nuclear quadrupole coupling constants of iodine atoms imply that approximately 1% of an electron is transferred from the iodine lone pair into aromatic π orbitals when iodine is substituted for a hydrogen atom in either the 4- or 2-position. Results are compared with data for other halogenated aromatic molecules and discussed in context of the extent of conjugation across the range.

A highly flexible molecule: The peculiar case of ethynyl isothiocyanate HCCNCS.

The rotational spectrum of the parent isotopic species of HCCNCS, along with those of three 13C singly substituted variants and one 34S minor isotopologue, has been observed with high resolution using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy from 4 to 26 GHz. Based on the observed spectral pattern and assignment of the 14N nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure, the geometry of HCCNCS is effectively linear, which is further supported by the observation of -type doubling for rotational transitions in an excited bending state of the parent HCCNCS. The experimental observations are supported by high level quantum chemical calculations using the coupled-cluster singles and doubles model augmented by a perturbative correction for triple excitations, CCSD(T), level of theory that reveal an extremely shallow potential energy well along the CNC bending angle with a surprising basis set dependence.

Multiplexed characterization of complex gas-phase mixtures combining chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and VUV photoionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

We report details of the design and operation of a single apparatus that combines Chirped-Pulse Fourier Transform Microwave (CP-FTMW) spectroscopy with vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoionization Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (TOFMS). The supersonic expansion used for cooling samples is interrogated first by passing through the region between two microwave horns capable of broadband excitation and detection in the 2-18 GHz frequency region of the microwave. After passing through this region, the expansion is skimmed to form a molecular beam, before being probed with 118 nm (10.5 eV) single-photon VUV photoionization in a linear time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The two detection schemes are powerfully complementary to one another. CP-FTMW detects all components with significant permanent dipole moments. Rotational transitions provide high-resolution structural data. VUV TOFMS provides a gentle and general method for ionizing all components of a gas phase mixture with ionization thresholds below 10.5 eV, providing their molecular formulae. The advantages, complementarity, and limitations of the combined methods are illustrated through results on two gas-phase mixtures made up of (i) three furanic compounds, two of which are structural isomers of one another, and (ii) the effluent from a flash pyrolysis source with o-guaiacol as the precursor.

Isothiocyanato-Containing Carbon Chains: The Laboratory Detection of HCCCCNCS and NCCCNCS via Rotational Spectroscopy.

Two new NCS-containing carbon chains of potential astronomical interest, HC4NCS and NC3NCS, were produced through dc electric discharge in a molecular beam and detected by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Rotational transitions from the two species were recorded between 4 and 26 GHz, and assignments were confirmed by the distinct hyperfine structures due to the 14N nuclear quadrupole moments of these two linear, isoelectronic species. The rotational constants of HC4NCS and NC3NCS were determined experimentally to be 595.09300(3) and 596.26344(2) MHz, respectively, and are in good agreement with theoretical predictions at the MP2 and CCSD(T) levels of theory. The use of diacetylene in the precursor mixture to form HC4NCS improved the intensity of the spectrum by a factor of 10 and allowed the observation of the rotational transitions of the 34S singly substituted form in natural abundance.

Conformational preferences of Criegee intermediates: Isopropyl substituted carbonyl oxide.

Three conformers of the isopropyl-substituted Criegee intermediate, (CH3)2CHCHOO, have been observed by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. The transient species was produced using a pulsed electric discharge of a gas mixture of 1,1-diiodo-2-methylpropane/O2 diluted in Ar or Ne. The use of different carrier gases in the supersonic expansion reveals the difference of the collisional relaxation process between anti-conformers. The conformational relaxation pathways have been investigated theoretically and are presented as well. In light of these results, the previous study on the ethyl-substituted Criegee intermediate, where the absence of one of the four possible conformers was associated with collisional relaxation processes, has been re-examined. Here we report the detection of a new conformer of the ethyl-substituted Criegee intermediate observed using Ne as the seeding gas.

Structure, Conformational Equilibria, and Weak Hydrogen Bonding in the CH2 F2 -CF3 CH2 F Dimer.

To probe the multiple configurations of a weakly bound intermolecular complex, the difluoromethane and 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane dimer was investigated by using pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy coupled with quantum chemical calculations. Three isomers were detected in the supersonic jet. Spectroscopic assignments, ab initio calculations and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) analyses prove that all the observed isomers are stabilized through a net of three weak C-H⋅⋅⋅F-C interactions. The interaction energies are estimated to be within 12-13 kJ mol-1 , dominated by electrostatic and dispersion according to Symmetry-Adapted Perturbation Theory (SAPT) analysis. The spectroscopic measurements were also extended to three and two 13 C isotopologues in natural abundance for the isomers II and III, respectively, which lead to precisely structural determinations of these two isomers. The comparison of the relative intensity of these isomers measured in the carrier gases of argon and helium evidenced that isomer II is the global minimum, while the intensities measured in helium suggested that the population of the three isomers in the jet to be NI /NII /NIII ≈1/11/4.

Probing the methyl torsional barriers of the doubly substituted methyl-ethyl Criegee intermediate by FTMW spectroscopy

In a previous work, Cabezas et al., 2017 [21], we reported the rotational study of the doubly substituted methyl-ethyl Criegee intermediate, C2H5C(CH3)OO, by using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Four different conformers were found showing A/E splittings due to the internal rotation of methyl tops. However for one of the conformers, syn2, some of the observed lines showed additional splitting that could not be assigned. The present work has been aimed to shed light on these transition line splittings of the syn2 conformer which are assigned to additional splittings coming from the two nonequivalent tops. As a consequence, 182 lines have been observed and the analysis of the internal rotation motions of two non-equivalent methyl tops enabled us to determine the barrier heights of the hindered methyl rotation of the two tops.