THE INFRARED SPECTRA OF BF$_3$ CATION AND BF$_2$OH CATION TRAPPED IN SOLID NEON

Abstract

New, more detailed studies of the photoionization and Penning ionization of BF$_3$ trapped in solid neon have confirmed the earlier{} infrared spectroscopic identification of BF$_2$ and BF$_2$ cation and have yielded a revised assignment for the infrared absorptions of BF${_3}$ cation. The position of the absorption attributed to $\nu$$_3$ of that molecule is consistent with the distortion of the ground-state cation from D$_{3h}$ symmetry because of strong vibronic interaction between levels of the \~{B} $^2$E$^{\prime}$ state and E$^{\prime}$ levels of the \~{X} $^2$A$_2$$^{\prime}$ ground state, as predicted by Haller and co-workers.{ppel, L.~S.~Cederbaum, W.~von~Niessen, and G.~Bieri, J.~Chem.~Phys. 78, 1359 (1983).}} The facile reaction of BF$_3$ with traces of H$_2$O desorbed from the walls of the vacuum system leads to the stabilization of sufficient BF$_2$OH for the identification of two vibrational fundamentals of BF$_2$OH cation.