Knowledge Bank

Although the interaction of $BF3$ with traces of water in the vacuum system has been $shown1$ to result in the formation of sufficient $BF2OH$ for determination of its microwave spectrum and structure, the infrared spectrum of that molecule has not previously been reported. Prominent impurity absorptions in the infrared spectra of solid $Ne:BF3$ samples at 5 K can be assigned to $BF2OH$, formed by the reaction of $BF3$ with water adsorbed on the walls of the deposition system. This assignment is supported by the results of experiments in which the sampling system is exposed to water enriched in deuterium and/or in oxygen-18 before the introduction of the $Ne:BF3$ mixture and by ab initio calculations of the positions of the vibrational fundamentals of the various isotopically substituted $BF2OH$ species. The detailed vibrational assignment and normal coordinate analysis for $BF2OH$ will be presented.