ELECTRONIC ORBITAL DEGENERACY. II. APPLICATION TO $CF_{3}O$ AND OTHER JAHN-TELLER ACTIVE MOLECULES

Abstract

The methodology presented in the previous talk has been applied to the electronic spectroscopy of the $CF_{3}O$ radical, which has a ${^{2}}E$ ground state and a ${^{2}}A$ first excited state under $C_{3\nu}$ symmetry. Previous work in our laboratory has produced the laser-induced fluorescence excitation spectrum of this radical, along with the dispersed emission spectra from the first three levels of the excited state. These spectra suggest that the $CF_{3}O$ radical has in its ground state strong first-order Jahn-Teller coupling, significant spin-orbit coupling, and weak second-order Jahn-Teller coupling. The combination of these effects yields quite complicated spectra. The spectra of other Jahn-Teller active radicals will also be discussed.