15min:
THE ELECTRONIC SPECTRUM AND RENNER-TELLER ANALYSIS OF THE C2P FREE RADICAL.

FUMIE X. SUNAHORI, JIE WEI AND DENNIS J. CLOUTHIER, Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0055.

Subsequent to our spectroscopic detection of the C2X (X = P, As) free radicals, we have studied the electronic spectrum of the jet-cooled 2 Deltai - 2 Pir system of the C2P free radical in the 490-630 nm region. High resolution spectra of the two spin-components of the 000 band of 12C2P have been recorded, and the rotational and spin-orbit coupling constants have been determined for both electronic states. Evidence of the Renner-Teller effect has been observed in both the 2 Pir and 2 Deltai states, and the vibrational structure has been assigned and fitted to a Renner-Teller hamiltonian for 12C2P and 13C2P. The molecular parameters predicted by density functionl theory are in good agreement with the derived experimental values and provide validation for the spectroscopic assignments. The molecular structure of C2P in the ground and excited state will be discussed.