Infrared absorption of gaseous CH2BrOO detected with a step-scan Fourier-transform absorption spectrometer

CH2BrOO radicals were produced upon irradiation, with an excimer laser at 248 nm, of a flowing mixture of CH2Br2 and O2. A step-scan Fourier-transform spectrometer coupled with a multipass absorption cell was employed to record temporally resolved infrared (IR) absorption spectra of reaction intermediates. Transient absorption with origins at 1276.1, 1088.3, 961.0, and 884.9 cm(-1) are assigned to ν4 (CH2-wagging), ν6 (O-O stretching), ν7 (CH2-rocking mixed with C-O stretching), and ν8 (C-O stretching mixed with CH2-rocking) modes of syn-CH2BrOO, respectively. The assignments were made according to the expected photochemistry and a comparison of observed vibrational wavenumbers, relative IR intensities, and rotational contours with those predicted with the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ method. The rotational contours of ν7 and ν8 indicate that hot bands involving the torsional (ν12) mode are also present, with transitions 7(0)(1)12(v)(v) and 8(0)(1)12(v)(v), v = 1-10. The most intense band (ν4) of anti-CH2BrOO near 1277 cm(-1) might have a small contribution to the observed spectra. Our work provides information for directly probing gaseous CH2BrOO with IR spectroscopy, in either the atmosphere or laboratory experiments.