In this project in the Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. S.C. Foster of the Chemistry Department of Florida State University will conduct a series of investigations in the high resolution infrared spectroscopy of Jahn-Teller active molecules. A novel high frequency modulated corona- excited supersonic jet discharge will be used to produce the species of interest. The methoxy, thiomethoxy, and methyl nitrene radicals will be investigated. While there have been many investigations of the rotation-vibration-electronic spectra of polyatomic molecules, there have been relatively few which deal with the radicals of such molecules. This paucity of such investigations is generally due to the great reactivity of these species and thus the difficulties encountered in producing sufficient amounts of them suitable for experimental study. In radical species which are expected to possess axial symmetry this is often not the case. The radicals are distorted away from their expected symmetry due to a special interaction between the electronic motions and some of the vibrational modes. This is known as the Jahn-Teller effect. This research is devoted to the study of Jahn-Teller active molecules with the aim to establish a data base suitable for the development of appropriate theoretical models.
