*** 9710375 CRAIG Norman C. Craig of Oberlin College is supported by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program to continue his high resolution fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) studies of nonpolar fluorocarbon molecules. The cis or gauche effect predicts that the more polar isomer has the lower energy; Craig will analyze the rotationally-resolved infrared spectrum of the nonpolar isomers of 1,4-difluoro- and 1,4-dichlorobutadienes and the microwave spectrum of the polar isomers to determine their complete structures. The overall goal of these studies is to gain information about the adjustments in molecular bond lengths and angles that accompany changes in a molecule's configuration, that is, in the positions that large atoms or groups of atoms occupy when attached to certain molecular skeletons, such as a rigid carbon-carbon double bond. The results of these experiments will help in understanding the propensities for one molecular configuration over another and to stimulate high-level theoretical calculations designed to explore these cis or gauche effects. ***
