Analysis of liquid structure without construction of any structure models by the X-ray scattering method

A simple approach for determining a liquid structure using X-ray scattering data, in which a liquid structure is uniquely evaluated without construction of any plausible structure models, has been applied to liquid acetonitrile, acetone and cyclohexane. For a pair of molecules, a given point within a molecule is located at the origin with a given molecular orientation. The site of the given point of another molecule is defined by the polar coordinates and the molecular orientation is treated by three Eulerian angles. These parameters are optimized by a non-linear least-squares calculation applied to X-ray scattering data. The reliability of the method was examined by determining the liquid structure of polar acetonitrile and the obtained intermolecular interatomic distances are in good agreement with the previously reported values. The method was then successfully applied to the determination of the liquid structure of acetone and cyclohexane. Especially for nonpolar cyclohexane, the construction of a variety of plausible structural models is very difficult. It was revealed that acetone has an ordered liquid arrangement similar to that found in its crystal, although the intermolecular distances in liquid acetone are different from those in the crystal. On the other hand, the liquid structure of cyclohexane is disordered.