The Structure of Phosphine

Abstract
Several low Jmicrowave transitions of PH2D and PHD2 have been observed in the K band. The effect of centrifugal distortion on the rotational levels has been taken into account approximately, with the result that errors in the computed structure due to this cause now appear to be negligible in comparison with those due to vibration‐rotation interaction. One obtains for the P–H distance 1.4177 and 1.4116A in the two cases; for the H–P–H angle, 93°21.6′ and 93°15.4′. The dipole moment has been measured for both species with agreement within experimental error.