No abstract

The gas-phase infrared spectra of vinyl fluoride, H(2)C=CHF, have been examined at medium resolution in the range 400-8000 cm(-1). The assignment of the absorptions in terms of fundamental, overtone, and combination bands, assisted by quantum chemical calculations, is consistent all over the region investigated. Spectroscopic parameters, obtained from the analysis of partially resolved rotational structure of some bands, have been derived and compared with the corresponding calculated values. Accurate values of integrated band intensities have also been determined for the first time. High-level ab initio calculations with large basis sets have been performed. Correlated harmonic force fields have been obtained from coupled cluster CCSD(T) calculations with the cc-pVQZ basis set, while anharmonic force constants have been computed employing the less resource demanding cc-pVTZ basis set. A good agreement between the computed and the experimental data has been obtained including those for the integrated infrared band intensities.

Difluoromethane (CH(2)F(2), HFC-32) is a molecule used in refrigerant mixtures as a replacement of the more environmentally hazardous, ozone depleting, chlorofluorocarbons. On the other hand, presenting strong vibration-rotation bands in the 9 μm atmospheric window, it is a greenhouse gas which contributes to global warming. In the present work, the vibrational and ro-vibrational properties of CH(2)F(2), providing basic data for its atmospheric modeling, are studied in detail by coupling medium resolution Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to high-level electronic structure ab initio calculations. Experimentally a full quantum assignment and accurate integrated absorption cross sections are obtained up to 5000 cm(-1). Ab initio calculations are carried out by using CCSD(T) theory and large basis sets of either the correlation consistent or atomic natural orbital hierarchies. By using vibrational perturbation theory to second order a complete set of vibrational and ro-vibrational parameters is derived from the ab initio quartic anharmonic force fields, which well compares with the spectroscopic constants retrieved experimentally. An excellent agreement between theory and experiment is achieved for vibrational energy levels and integrated absorption cross sections: transition frequencies up to four quanta of vibrational excitation are reproduced with a root mean square deviation (RMSD) of 7 cm(-1) while intensities are predicted within few km mol(-1) from the experiment. Basis set performances and core correlation effects are discussed throughout the paper. Particular attention is focused in the understanding of the anharmonic couplings which rule the vibrational dynamics of the |ν(1)>, |2ν(8)>, |2ν(2)> three levels interacting system. The reliability of the potential energy and dipole moment surfaces in reproducing the vibrational eigenvalues and intensities as well as in modeling the vibrational and ro-vibrational mixings over the whole 400-5000 cm(-1) region is also demonstrated by spectacular spectral simulations carried out by using the ro-vibrational Hamiltonian constants, and the relevant coupling terms, obtained from the perturbation treatment of the ab initio anharmonic force field. The present results suggest CH(2)F(2) as a prototype molecule to test ab initio calculations and theoretical models.

Equilibrium structures for the cis and trans isomer of 1-chloro-2-fluoroethylene are reported. The structures are obtained within a least-squares fit procedure using the available experimental ground-state rotational constants for various isotopic species of both forms. Vibrational effects were eliminated before the analysis using vibration-rotation interaction constants derived from computed quadratic and cubic force fields with the required quantum chemical calculations carried out using second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation as well as coupled-cluster (CC) theory. The semiexperimental or empirical equilibrium geometries obtained in this way agree well with the corresponding theoretical predictions obtained from CC calculations [at the CCSD(T) level] after extrapolation to the complete basis-set limit and inclusion of core-valence correlation corrections. The present results allow a detailed analysis of the geometrical differences between the two forms of 1-chloro-2-fluoroethylene. They are also compared to the structural data available for other halogenated ethylenes.

No abstract