Infra-red spectrum, structure and properties of the N2-Ar van der Waals molecule

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Abstract
The first spectroscopic observation of bound N2-Ar van der Waals molecules has been achieved with a cryogenic long path cell maintained at 87 K. The infra-red spectrum exhibits prominent fine structure near the N2 stretching frequency which is assigned to hindered internal rotation of N2 within the weakly bound complex. An analysis of this fine structure yields a T-shaped equilibrium geometry in which the N2 bond axis is perpendicular to the N2-Ar van der Waals bond axis. The observed spectrum is shown to be consistent with an internal rotational barrier of 20 cm-1 (57 cal/mole). Approximately 20 per cent of the bound species are trapped by this rotational barrier and acquire a locked semi-rigid structure. The remaining 80 per cent have ill-defined geometry and undergo hindered internal rotation. The rotational envelope of an infra-red fundamental is analysed to give an estimate of the N2-Ar bond length as 3·9 Å.

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