THE MICROWAVE ROTATION SPECTRUM OF THE BI-MOLECULE $CF_{3}COOH-HCOOH$

Abstract

The pure rotation spectrum of the hydrogen bonded bi-molecule $CF_{3}COOH-HCOOH$ has been obtained using a mixture of trifluoroacetic and formic acid vapor. The conditions required for the appearance of the spectrum are those predicted from the association constants for cyclic dimer formation. The strongest feature of the spectrum is a series of broad lines which can be represented by $\nu=(B+C) (J+1)$. From the value of B+C, and assumed structures of the parent molecules, a preliminary value of 2.69 {\AA} has been obtained for the O-H-O distance. Further studies are being made with the deuterated species.