SPECTRUM AND STRUCTURE OF THE FREE HNCN RADICAL

Abstract

A widely spaced perpendicular band at 3440 Å observed in the flash photolysis of diazomethane is ascribed to the free HNCN radical. The study of the fine structure of this band for HNCN, DNCN, and HNC13N has yielded information about the geometrical structure of the molecule in both the upper and lower (ground) state. For the lower state[Formula: see text]The N—C—N group is very nearly linear, but the exact position of the C atom on this line could not be determined. The electronic transition is of the type 2A′–2A″, the transition moment being perpendicular to the plane of the molecule.