Knowledge Bank

We have observed extensive laser magnetic resonance spectra in the 880 to $950cm-1$ region resulting from the reaction of $GeH4$, with F atoms from a microwave discharge in $CF4$. A few relatively weak lines have been assigned to the $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">2</mrow>}\pi 1/2\leftarrow 2\pi 3/2$ transition of GeH, but one ormore other molecules are responsible for most of the observations. The presence of Ge in the carrier (s) of the spectra is confirmed by experiments with isotopically pure $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">74</mrow>}GeH4$. The most likely candidate molecule is $GeH3$, and we have made some tentative rotational assignments on this basis. However, a rapid analysis of the spectra is retarded by the absence of any previous data on gas phase $GeH3$, by the presence of a number of Ge isotopes, and by the fact that two vibrational fundamentals ($\nu 2$ and $\nu 4$) occur in this region which are likely to be Coriolis-coupled (moreover, $\nu 4$ is degenerate). Other molecules which could possibly be involved in our observations are $GeH2F$, GeF, or excited $\mathrm{<mrow\; data-mjx-texclass="ORD">3</mrow>}B1GeH2$.