Nuclear Quadrupole Coupling Tensor of Ch₂Cl₂: Comparison of Quadrupolar and Structural Angles in Methylene Halides

Abstract

Nuclear quadrupaole hyperfine structure in 21,2 t--30,3 and 11,1 4-20,2 rotational transitions of CH23 5C l2 at 9.2 and 15.9 GHz, respectively, was measured with a newly constructed pulsed supersonic beam, cavity Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. All components of nuclear quadrupole splitting tensors of the chlorine nuclei in inertial and in principal quadrupole axes were determined. It is shown that in methylene halide molecules nuclear quadrupole information leads to a value for L(XCX) which is systematically larger than L(XCX) defined by the positions of the nuclei. Some novel features of the spectrometer are also described.