Spectroscopy of matrix-isolated methylnitrene

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Abstract
The methylnitrene radical CH3N has been produced by the interaction of metastable molecular nitrogen and methylazide, and has been trapped in solid nitrogen at 10 K. The IR and UV absorption spectra are consistent with gas phase emission results, and also show transitions to several additional vibrational levels in the A 3E excited electronic state. The UV band system consists chiefly of a progression in the C–N stretching mode, possibly complicated by additional unresolved vibrational structure. These observations indicate that the absence of extensive hot band structure in the gas phase work is not due to rapid dissociation or isomerization from the upper state, which is bound by at least 3500 cm−1. The ESR signals previously attributed to CH3N cannot be produced under the same experimental conditions, but require additional photolysis. This observation suggests that a reexamination of previous ESR data is warranted.