Neutron-diffraction studies on liquid deuterated acetonitrile at 20~C were carried out at neutron wavelengths of 0"5 A and 0.7 A.. For the latter wavelength samples of two different diameters were measured.The data were corrected for background, absorption, multiple scattering and inelastic effects (Placzek correction) and then were normalized to absolute differential cross section by comparison with vanadium standard. The different steps in the correction procedure were experimentally verified.The absolute coherent distinct differential cross section was separated into intermolecular and intramolecular contributions. The variation of molecular structure in passing from the gas phase to the liquid was obtained from this intramolecular contribution.
INTRODUCTIONIn molecular liquids as opposed to simple atomic liquids non-central forces are generally important [1] and this results in more complicated expressions for molecular correlation functions which are needed in statistical calculations of thermodynamic properties of liquids. The pair-correlation function which plays a central role within the pair theory of liquids depends for molecules not only on the separation between molecules but also on their relative orientations [2][3][4]. This molecular pair-correlation function may in principle be determined from diffraction experiments [5] but a large number of different experimental data from neutron diffraction using different isotopes and X-ray diffraction are required.The present investigation was carried out in order to provide as much diffraction data as possible for one molecular liquid. Acetonitrile was chosen since X-ray data are already available [6] and at least two different neutrondiffraction studies on the isotopes CD3C14N and CD3CISN are feasible. In the present paper data for CDaCI~N are presented, whereas results for CD3CISN will be published in a second part of this series.Acetonitrile seems to be quite an appropriate example to study. Its large electric dipole moment of 3-92 D t and its comparatively high boiling point indicate strong non-central intermolecular forces and preliminary interpretations of the X-ray data [6] seem to favour strong orientational correlations. On the other hand, the acetonitrile molecule possesses structural symmetry which facilitates evaluation of the molecular pair-correlation function [2] and also its gasphase structure is well established [7][8][9].