High-resolution infrared spectroscopy of the formic acid dimer

The formic acid dimer (HCOOH)2 (FAD), an eight-membered ring with double hydrogen bonds, has been a model complex for physical chemists. The acidic protons of the complex interchange between the oxygens of different units in a concerted tunneling motion. This proton tunneling can be described by a symmetric double-well potential. The double well results in a splitting of each rovibrational level. The magnitude of the splitting depends sensitively on the shape of the potential and the reduced mass along the tunneling path. Experimentally, one can determine the proton transfer tunneling splittings in the ground and vibrationally excited states separately. It is possible to work out the splitting of the energy levels, assign the correct symmetry, and obtain the sum and the difference of the tunneling splitting in the ground and vibrationally excited states independently using isotopically labeled molecules. Conversely, an accurate prediction of tunneling splitting even for this small prototype system still remains a challenge for theoretical chemistry because of the splitting's great sensitivity to the shape and barrier height of the potential surface. The FAD therefore has evolved into a prototype system to study theoretical methods for a description of proton transfer.