Structure of the O[Single Bond]H Bands in the Vapors of Halogen Substituted Alcohols

Abstract

In the study of the infra-red absorption of organic substances containing hydroxyl groups it has been found that the O-H bands sometimes occur as multiplets even though only one such group is present per molecule. This has been observed both in the spectra of vapors (1) and of solutions (2,3) though in the latter case less structure is resolvable in some instances. The phenomenon has been explained by saying that the hydroxyl hydrogen is not free to rotate around the C-O bond, but may be found in more than one position of potential minimum in which the O-H frequency may be somewhat different (1,4). Though this explanation appears plausible it has seemed desirable to investigate the matter further by a quantitative study of some relatively simple substances in the vapor phase. Consequently a series of halogen substituted alcohols has been investigated with interesting results.