15min:

V. D. GORDON, M. C. MCCARTHY, A. J. APPONI AND P. THADDEUS, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138 and Division of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 29 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138.

Twelve sulfur-containing carbon chains have recently been detected and spectroscopically characterized in our laboratory by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. These include: the singlet chains C₇S and C₉S; the triplet chains C₆S and C₈S; the free radicals HC₅S, HC₆S, HC₇S, and HC₈S; and the asymmetric tops H₂C₄S, H₂C₅S, H₂C₆S, and H₂C₇S. In addition, all three fine structure ladders of triplet C₄S have now been observed, and the two fine-structure constants and determined to high accuracy. An experimental structure of C₅S has also been derived on the basis of the singly-substituted isotopic species which were observed in natural abundance. A summary of these and other recent results will be presented.