Knowledge Bank

Recent experimental observations of optical activity in vibrational transitions have resulted in the need for detailed analyses of the vibrational modes of simple chiral molecules. Accordingly, we have examined the infrared and Raman spectra of bromochlorofluoromethane in gas, liquid, and solid phases. Vibrational analysis has been carried out with the aid of vapor phase band contours of four different isotopic molecules and structural data provided by electron diffraction. A force field and a potential energy distribution, calculated from these data, will be discussed and compared with previously published estimates. Observations of Raman optical activity in the levorotatory enantiomer fill be presented.