Determination of the structure of ArCO2 by radio frequency and microwave spectroscopy

Abstract
The species ArCO2 produced by adiabatic expansion is structurally characterized by molecular beam electric resonance spectroscopy. ArCO2 is shown to have C2v symmetry. The spectroscopic constants obtained are: The derived structural constants for ArCO2 are: Comparison is made with a number of proposed Ar–CO2 intermolecular potentials. The determined force constants are shown to be poorly fitted by a spherical argon–oxygen interaction.