Internal Motion and Molecular Structure Studies by Electron Diffraction

Abstract

A procedure has been developed for the determination of molecular structure by electron diffraction which yields accurate intensity data and obviates the necessity for visual examination of the diffraction photographs. The theory for computing radial distribution curves has been extended to permit accurate curves to be obtained from scattering data covering only a restricted range of angle. From this method, it is possible to obtain not only equilibrium distances but also the probability distributions for the vibrational motion between pairs of atoms in a molecule. The procedure has been applied to CCl4 and CO2 and when comparisons may be made with spectroscopic results, satisfactory agreement is obtained.