Erratum: VCl4 Vapor Spectrum and Jahn—Teller Splitting

Jahn–Teller Effect in VCl4

“…The vanadium tetrachloride molecule has one unpaired electron and is a liquid at room temperature with enough vapor pressure to make it a candidate for gas-phase experiments bearing on the Jahn–Teller (JT) effect (JTE), but many experiments were done in the liquid and in solution as well. The electronic absorption spectrum, − vibrational spectrum, − photoelectron spectrum (PES), − magnetic deflection spectrum, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum, − nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum, electric deflection, electric dipole moment, electron diffraction, − and magnetic susceptibility ,,,, have all been studied, sometimes with respect to the JTE, sometimes not.…”

“…The principal experimental results with respect to the JTE in VCl 4 started with the suggestion that overlapping peaks in the first electronic absorption band were due to combined JTEs in the 2 E and 2 T 2 states, but a quantitative analysis could not be obtained . An early electron-diffraction study described the molecule as tetrahedral (consistent with a dynamic JTE), whereas a later study noted that the Cl–Cl peak is wider than that for TiCl 4 and showed that the increase, with some assumptions, gave a small value for one of the JT potential constants, supporting a dynamic JTE.…”