Formation of the methyl cation by photochemistry in a protoplanetary disk

Forty years ago, it was proposed that gas-phase organic chemistry in the interstellar medium can be initiated by the methyl cation CH3+ (refs. 1-3), but so far it has not been observed outside the Solar System4,5. Alternative routes involving processes on grain surfaces have been invoked6,7. Here we report James Webb Space Telescope observations of CH3+ in a protoplanetary disk in the Orion star-forming region. We find that gas-phase organic chemistry is activated by ultraviolet irradiation.

Microwave spectra of dinitrotoluene isomers: a new step towards the detection of explosive vapors

The spectroscopic characterization of explosive taggants used for TNT detection is a research topic of growing interest. We present a gas-phase rotational spectroscopic study of weakly volatile dinitrotoluene (DNT) isomers. The pure rotational spectra of 2,4-DNT and 2,6-DNT were recorded in the microwave range (2-20 GHz) using a Fabry-Perot Fourier-transform microwave (FP-FTMW) spectrometer coupled to a pulsed supersonic jet. Rotational transitions are split by hyperfine quadrupole coupling at the two ¹⁴N nuclei leading to up to 9 hyperfine components. The spectral analysis was supported by quantum chemical calculations carried out at the B98/cc-pVTZ and MP2/cc-pVTZ levels of theory. Based on 2D potential energy surfaces at the B98/cc-pVTZ level of theory, the methyl group internal rotation barriers were calculated to be V₃ = 515 cm^-1 and 698 cm^-1 for 2,4- and 2,6-DNT, respectively. Although no splitting due to internal rotation was observed for 2,6-DNT, several splittings were observed for 2,4-DNT. The microwave spectra of both species were fitted using a semi-rigid Hamiltonian accounting for the quadrupole coupling hyperfine structure. Based on the internal axis method (IAM), an additional analysis was performed to retrieve an accurate value of the rotationless A-E tunneling splitting which could be extracted from the rotational dependence of the tunneling splitting. This yielded in the case of 2,4-DNT to an experimental value of 525 cm^-1 for the barrier height V₃ which agrees well with the DFT value. The coupled internal rotations of -CH₃ and -NO₂ are investigated in terms of 2-D surfaces, as already done in the case of 2-nitrotoluene [A. Roucou et al., Chem. Phys. Chem., 2020, 21, 2523-2538].

Extreme anomalous centrifugal distortion in methylene

A new treatment is presented to account for the extreme anomalous centrifugal distortion displayed by the open-shell methylene radical. This new treatment is based on a four-dimensional approach in which both the overall rotation and the large amplitude bending mode are treated simultaneously. It accounts for the spin-rotation and spin-spin fine couplings, assumed to depend on the large amplitude bending coordinate, as well as for the hyperfine coupling. The new treatment is tested analyzing the available high-resolution data. 336 transitions, involving the ground and first excited vibrational states of the bending mode, are reproduced with a unitless standard deviation of 1.3, using 42 molecular constants. Compared to a previous analysis [S. Brünken et al., J. Chem. Phys. 123, 164315 (2005)], the present analysis is more satisfactory as it accounts for a larger dataset and the ratio of the number of data to the number of varied constants is larger. The present theoretical treatment also allows us to retrieve the bending potential and the main kinetic energy term.

Experimental and theoretical investigations of H2O-Ar

We have used continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy to record the spectrum of H₂O-Ar in the 2OH excitation range of H₂O. 24 sub-bands have been observed. Their rotational structure (T_rot = 12 K) is analyzed and the lines are fitted separately for ortho and para species together with microwave and far infrared data from the literature, with a unitless standard deviation σ=0.98 and 1.31, respectively. Their vibrational analysis is supported by a theoretical input based on an intramolecular potential energy surface obtained through ab initio calculations and computation of the rotational energy of sub-states of the complex with the water monomer in excited vibrational states up to the first hexad. For the ground and (010) vibrational states, the theoretical results agree well with experimental energies and rotational constants in the literature. For the excited vibrational states of the first hexad, they guided the assignment of the observed sub-bands. The upper state vibrational predissociation lifetime is estimated to be 3 ns from observed spectral linewidths.

Fourier Transform Microwave Spectrum of Propene-3-d1 (CH2═CHCH2D), Quadrupole Coupling Constants of Deuterium, and a Semiexperimental Equilibrium Structure of Propene

The ground-state rotational spectrum of propene-3-d₁, CH₂═CHCH₂D, was measured by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Transitions were assigned for the two conformers, one with the D atom in the symmetry plane (S) and the other with the D atom out of the plane (A). The energy difference between the two conformers was calculated to be 6.5 cm^-1, the S conformer having lower energy. The quadrupole hyperfine structure due to deuterium was resolved and analyzed for both conformers. The experimental quadrupole coupling and the centrifugal distortion constants compared favorably to their ab initio counterparts. Ground-state rotational constants for the S conformer are 40582.157(9), 9067.024(1), and 7766.0165(12) MHz. Ground-state rotational constants for the A conformer are 43403.75(3), 8658.961(2), and 7718.247(2) MHz. For the A conformer, a small tunneling splitting (19 MHz) due to internal rotation was observed and analyzed. Using the new rotational constants of this work as well as those previously determined for the ¹³C species and for some deuterium-substituted species from the literature, a new semiexperimental equilibrium structure was determined and its high accuracy was confirmed. The difficulty in obtaining accurate coordinates for the out-of-plane hydrogen atom is discussed.

Analysis of the microwave, terahertz, and far infrared spectra of monodeuterated methanol CH2DOH up to J = 26, K = 11, and o(1)

The first theoretical approach aimed at accounting for the energy levels of a non-rigid molecule displaying asymmetric-top asymmetric-frame internal rotation is developed. It is applied to a line position analysis of the high-resolution spectrum of the non-rigid CH2DOH molecule and allows us to carry out a global analysis of a data set consisting of already available data and of microwave and far infrared transitions measured in this work. The analysis is restricted to the three lowest lying torsional levels (e0, e1, and o1), to K ⩽ 11, and to J ⩽ 26. For the 8211 fitted lines, the unitless standard deviation is 2.4 and 103 parameters are determined including kinetic energy, hindering potential, and distortion effects parameters.

Analysis of the torsional spectrum of monodeuterated methanol CH2DOH

An analysis of the torsional spectrum of monodeuterated methanol CH(2)DOH is presented. Twenty nine torsional subbands have been assigned in the 20-800 cm(-1) region. The newly assigned subbands and those already available in the literature were analyzed with a theoretical approach accounting for internal rotation of an asymmetrical CH(2)D methyl group. Seventy six subband centers were reproduced with an rms value of 0.09 cm(-1). Spectroscopic parameters corresponding to the generalized inertia tensor and to the hindering potential were determined as well as rotation-torsion distortion constants.

Rotation-induced breakdown of torsional quantum control

Control of the torsional angles of nonrigid molecules is key for the development of emerging areas like molecular electronics and nanotechnology. Based on a rigorous calculation of the rotation-torsion-Stark energy levels of nonrigid biphenyl-like molecules, we show that, unlike previously believed, instantaneous rotation-torsion-Stark eigenstates of such molecules, interacting with a strong laser field, present a large degree of delocalization in the torsional coordinate even for the lowest energy states. This is due to a strong coupling between overall rotation and torsion leading to a breakdown of the torsional alignment. Thus, adiabatic control of changes on the planarity of this kind of molecule is essentially impossible unless the temperature is on the order of a few Kelvin.

The potential energy surface of the Ar-CO complex obtained using high-resolution data

A potential energy surface is retrieved for the Ar-CO complex by carrying out a global analysis of its high-resolution spectroscopic data. The data set consists of already published microwave and infrared data and of new microwave transitions which are presented in the paper. The theoretical approach used to reproduce the spectrum is based on a model Hamiltonian which accounts simultaneously for the two large amplitude van der Waals modes and for the overall rotation of the complex. Only the vCO = 0 state is considered. The root-mean-square deviation of the analysis is 18 MHz for the microwave data and 1.4 x 10(-3) cm(-1) for the infrared energy difference data. Fifteen parameters corresponding to the potential energy function are determined in addition to two kinetic energy parameters and two distortion-type parameters. The potential energy surface derived is in good agreement with the one obtained by Shin, Shin, and Tao [J. Chem. Phys. 104, 183 (1996)].

High-Lying Rotational Levels of Water: Comparison of Calculated and Experimental Energy Levels for (000) and (010) up to J = 25 and 21

Emission spectra of methane-oxygen low-pressure flames have been recorded at a resolution of 0.02 cm-1 with an infrared Fourier transform spectrometer in the spectral ranges 780-1370 and 1800-5000 cm-1. The flame temperature was about 1850 K and a large number of transitions involving J values as high as 34 for an extended set of vibrational states could be assigned. Combined with already published data sets on H2O, our line position analysis yielded rotational energy levels for many of these states, but only the results relevant to the ground and the (010) states are presented here. The experimental energies for these two states have been fitted with the help of the bending-rotation Hamiltonian approach [L. H. Coudert, J. Mol. Spectrosc. 181, 246-273 (1997)], and for each rotational level, the calculated energy along with its uncertainty is reported and compared with the observed value. Comparisons with other available energy level data sets for the ground and (010) states are also presented. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Sub-Millimeter-Wave Spectroscopy of the Ar.H+3 and Ar.D+3 Ionic Complexes

An investigation of the sub-millimeter-wave spectra of the ionic complexes Ar.H+3 and Ar.D+3 is presented. These complexes were produced in a negative glow electric discharge, in mixtures of argon with either H2 or D2. About 80 new transitions were assigned in the 485-680 GHz frequency range using a sub-millimeter-wave spectrometer built with Russian made backward wave oscillators (BWO) sources. These measurements enabled us to observe the first Ka = 2 transitions for Ar.H+3 and the first Ka = 3 transitions for Ar.D+3. Analyses of the line frequencies were carried out using an IAM-like approach, which accounts for the large amplitude internal rotation motion displayed by both species. Insights into the geometry of the intermediate configuration for this large amplitude motion were gained. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.