Knowledge Bank

When F atoms produced in a microwave discharge react with nitromethane in a stream of argon carrier gas and the products are rapidly frozen at 14 K, prominent infrared absorptions of the nitromethyl free radical ($CH2NO2$) hydrogen-bonded to $\mu$F appear in the solid deposit. The application of extensive isotopic substitution studies to obtain infromation on the structure and vibrational assignment of nitromethyl will be discussed.