Knowledge Bank

Vibronically resolved fluorescence and laser fluorescence excitation spectra have been observed solid Ne and Ar. There are strong spectral changes when the phenolic proton is deuterated, implying that the proton motion is coupled to a $Cs-C2v$ rearrangement of the oxygen-carbon molecular framework. In the deuterated compound, a ground state tunneling splitting $\Delta =9\pm 1$ $cm-1$ is observed. This valve, with other spectral and X-ray data, allows us to characterize double minimum potential energy curve shapes in both ground and excited states with use of an approximate model. The calculated ground state tunneling times are $\simeq 0.13p$ sec and $\simeq 1.7p$sec in the hydride and deuteride, respectively.