High-resolution Raman spectroscopy of gases and the determination of molecular bond lengths

Abstract

This review highlights the developments that have taken place in the field of high-resolution Raman spectroscopy of gases from the pioneering studies of Stoicheff and Welsh in the early fifties to the present day. This period has seen major changes in the methods that have been employed for investigating pure rotation and vibration-rotation spectra from these initial studies with Hg excitation through to the deployment of laser sources for incoherent Raman scattering at enhanced sensitivity, and the subsequent development of the techniques of nonlinear Raman spectroscopy at resolutions of ~10-3 cm-1. A central theme in this review is the measurement of accurate rotational constants for nonpolar molecules that have then been employed for the determination of molecular geometries and bond lengths. The studies by Stoicheff of the pure rotational spectra of a wide range of linear and symmetric-top molecules provided an extensive data base that served to supplement bond-length determinations from other methods and enabled him to correlate CC and CH bond length variations in noncyclic compounds with changes in their environment. The discovery of laser sources in the sixties provided exciting new opportunities for the examination of pure rotation and vibration-rotation spectra at enhanced resolution and sensitivity and broadened dramatically the scope of the field. Apart from the improvements in the incoherent scattering methods afforded by these new sources, the discovery of a range of new nonlinear Raman phenomena, a field in which Stoicheff made equally important contributions, led to the creation of a range of new coherent nonlinear Raman methods that have been widely employed for the study of all rotor classes. Representative examples of the many investigations performed with the various spectroscopic methods over this period are given, together with the results of the structure determinations achieved from the analyses of the rotational spectra.PACS Nos.: 33.20Fb, 36.20.Hb