{\em ORTHO-PARA} MIXING INTERACTION IN THE VINYL RADICAL DETECTED BY MILLIMETER-WAVE SPECTROSCOPY AND PREDICTION OF FAST {\em ORTHO-PARA} CONVERSION RATE

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\par {\em Ortho-para} mixing interaction due to the coupling of nuclear and electron spins was detected for the first time by millimeter-wave spectroscopy of deuterated vinyl radicals, H2CCD and D2CCD, of which the ground states are split by the tunneling motion of the α deuteron into two components 0+ and 0−, whose separations have been determined to be ΔE0= 1186.644(16) and 771.978(18) MHz, respectively. The observed tunneling-rotation spectra are significantly perturbed by the {\em othro-para} mixing interaction expressed by $\langle 0^\pm |H'|0^\mp\rangle = (\delta a_{\rm F}^{(\beta)}/2)\mbox{\boldmath S} \cdot(\mbox{\boldmath I}{\beta 1}-\mbox{\boldmath I}{\beta 2})$, where $\mbox{\boldmath I}{\beta 1}$ and $\mbox{\boldmath I}{\beta 2}$ are spins of the two hydrogen nuclei in the β position and {\boldmath S} is the electron spin, which connects rotational levels in the 0+ and 0− states, one being an {\em ortho} level and the other a {\em para} level. The δaF(β) constants for H2CCD and D2CCD have been determined to be 68.06(53) and 10.63(94) MHz, respectively, consistent each other within the isotopic mass relation. The {\em othro} and {\em para} states are mixed by about 0.097% and 0.0123% due to this interaction. nderline{\textbf{131,}}~111101 (2009).} The δaF constant for H2CCH should be similar to that for H2CCD because of the same probability density of the unpaired electron at the β protons, but could not be determined independently in our previous study. It is because the mixing of {\em para}- and {\em ortho}-levels of about 0.00044% is much smaller than that for H2CCD due to the large tunneling splitting of ΔE0=16271.8429(59) MHz. nderline{\textbf{120,}}~3604 (2004).} \par The rate constant of {\em para} to {\em ortho} (Iβ = 0 1) conversion is predicted as 1.2×105 s−1 torr−1 for H2CCD, suggesting extremely rapid mutual conversion between {\em ortho} and {\em para} nuclear spin isomers of H2CCD, which is more than 106 times faster compared with that in closed shell molecules such as H2CO and H2CCH2.

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Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Higashiku; Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan

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