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Blurring out hydrogen: The dynamical structure of teflic acid
S Herbers1, D A Obenchain1, P Kraus1
1Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover 30167, Germany.
Abstract:
The microwave spectra of 10 teflic acid isotopologues were recorded in the frequency range of 3-25 GHz using supersonic jet-expansion Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Despite being asymmetric in its equilibrium structure, the delocalization of the hydrogen atom leads to a symmetric top vibrational ground state structure. In this work, we present the zero point structure obtained from the experimental rotational constants and an approach to determine the semi-experimental equilibrium structure aided by ab initio data. The Te-O bond length determined in the equilibrium structure is accurate to the picometer and can be used as a benchmark for computational methods treating relativistic effects.
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