Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and dispersed fluorescence (DF) spectra of the Ã2E−X̃2A1 electronic transition of the calcium methoxide (CaOCH3) radical have been obtained under jet-cooled conditions. Complete active space self-consistent field and coupled-cluster calculations on the free radical were performed to aid the assignment of vibronic transitions observed in the LIF/DF spectra. In addition to dominant spectral features that are well reproduced by vibrational frequencies and Franck-Condon (FC) factors calculated ab initio, the FC matrix for the Ã2E−X̃2A1 electronic transition contains considerable off-diagonal elements that connect (i) the CaO-stretch (ν4) mode and non-CaO stretch modes and (ii) the asymmetric CaOC stretch (ν3) and the CaOC bending (ν8) modes. The Jahn-Teller and pseudo-Jahn-Teller interactions involving the Ã2E state as well as the spin-orbit interaction induce additional vibronic transitions that are not allowed under the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Additionally, anharmonic vibrational terms in the ground state induce transitions that are forbidden in the harmonic-oscillator approximation. Spin-orbit splitting has been observed for several vibrational levels of the Ã2E state, and an essentially constant value was measured at all levels accessed in the LIF experiment. Implications of the present spectroscopic investigation to the proposed schemes of laser-cooling MOCH3 (M = alkaline earth metals) molecules and detection of time-reversal-symmetry-violating interactions are discussed.

Room-temperature cavity ring-down (CRD) spectra of the à ← X̃ electronic transition of tetrahydrofuranyl peroxy (THFOO) and tetrahydropyranyl peroxy (THPOO) radicals were recorded. The peroxy radicals were produced by Cl-initiated oxidation of tetrahydrofuran and tetrahydropyran. Quantum chemical calculations of the lowest-energy conformers of all regioisomers of these two peroxy radicals have been carried out to aid the spectral simulation. Conformational identification and vibrational assignment were achieved by comparing the experimentally obtained spectra to the simulated ones. The absence of α-THPOO absorption peaks in the CRD spectrum is attributed to ring opening due to its weak CO bond.

The B ̃−X ̃laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and dispersed fluorescence (DF) spectra of the atmospherically important β-monofluoro ethoxy (MFEO), β,β-difluoro ethoxy (DFEO), and β,β,β-trifluoro ethoxy (TFEO) radicals were recorded with vibronic resolution under jet-cooled conditions. To simulate the spectra, Franck−Condon factors were obtained from quantum chemical computations carried out at the CAM-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. The simulations reproduce well both the LIF and DF spectra. Both conformers (G and T) of MFEO and one (G) of the two conformers of DFEO contribute to the LIF spectrum. A comparison between the experimental and calculated spectra confirms the expected longrange field effects of the CH x F 3−x group on electronic transition energies and bond strengths, especially in the excited electronic (B ̃) state. Although TFEO has only one conformer, its LIF spectrum is highly congested, which is attributed to the interaction between CO stretch and the −CF 3 internal rotation.

Density functional theory (DFT) has been applied to investigate the structural and electronic properties of an [(Al2O3)4](+) cluster. Since there is no structural data available from experiment, the geometry of the cluster was obtained based on a model which produced the best agreement with vibrational IR-MPD data. A range of different exchange-correlation functionals were tested, and it was concluded that the best spectral agreement was produced using the CAM-B3LYP and B3LYP functionals, respectively. To further characterize the properties of the cluster, natural bond order analysis was performed, and it was concluded that an appropriate description for the system is [Al8O12](+). The frontier orbitals and spin densities of both cation and neutral systems were considered, and it was concluded that the unrestricted singlet and triplet spin densities of the neutral [Al8O12] system were nearly degenerate, representing a di-radical, with the triplet state being lower in energy.

We report room-temperature cavity ring-down (CRD) spectra of the à ← X̃ electronic transition of 1-, 2-, and 3-methylallyl peroxy (MAOO•) radicals produced by 193 nm photolysis of methyl-substituted allyl chlorides in the presence of O2. Vibronic structure of experimentally observed spectra was simulated using calculated relative populations of MAOO• conformers, their electronic transition frequencies and oscillator strengths, as well as their vibrational frequencies and Franck–Condon factors of the à ← X̃ electronic transition. The reaction intermediate for the production of 1- and 3-MAOO• radicals, CH3CHCHCH2, is a resonance-stabilized free radical. CRD spectra of 1- and 3-MAOO• radicals obtained using different precursors suggest that allylic rearrangement between the two resonance structures (CH3CH=CHCH2 • and CH3CH•CH=CH2) is significantly faster than oxygen addition. Branching ratio between terminal and nonterminal oxygen addition was predicted to be 52:48 on the basis of calculated spin densities, which agrees qualitatively with the experimental CRD spectra of 1- and 3-MAOO• radicals.