A Theoretical Study of the Methyl and Aldehyde Torsion FIR Spectra in Symmetric Propanal Isotopomers

This paper is an extension of the techniques developed by us [A. Vivier-Bunge, V. H. Uc, and Y. G. Smeyers, J. Chem. Phys. 109, 2279 (1998)] for standard propanal. In that paper the potential energy surface for the simultaneous methyl and asymmetric aldehydic torsions was calculated at RHF/MP2 level using the 6-311(3df,p) basis set for propanal. The fit of the energy values to symmetry-adapted functional forms was carried out by using the 28 energy values which retain the C(3) dynamical symmetry of the methyl group in the optimization procedure. With this potential, as well as with the kinetic parameters and the electric dipole moment variations, the FIR frequencies and intensities for the methyl and aldehyde torsions of seven symmetric isotopomers of propanal were determined theoretically using two-dimensional calculations. The calculated spectra of propanal and three of its isotopomers were compared with the available experimental data. It is found that the calculations for the cis conformer satisfactorily reproduce the aldehyde and methyl torsion spectra and furnish also methyl torsionally excited progressions for the aldehyde torsion modes. The methyl torsion frequencies agree especially well whenever the methyl group is nondeuterated. The small deviations encountered for the deuterated compound are probably due to some mass effect, such as the zero-point vibrational energy correction, which is not taken into account in the present calculations. Finally, the influence of the deuteration on the intensities is discussed. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.