The Infra-Red Spectrum of N15N14O and the Force Constants of Nitrous Oxide

Abstract

The infra‐red spectrum of N¹⁵N¹⁴O has been studied. The observed bands together with those already known for N¹⁴N¹⁴O provide sufficient data to calculate a reasonable set of force constants for the nitrous oxide molecule. The zeroth‐order stretching frequencies for N¹⁵N¹⁴O and the force constants derived from them are also calculated. In the observed frequency approximation the N–N, N–O and interaction constants have been assigned the values 17.9, 11.4, and 1.4×10⁵ dynes/cm, respectively. These values are consistent with the picture that N₂O is a resonance hybrid of the two (principal) structures $\mathrm{N}\mathrm{̄=}\mathrm{N}{\displaystyle {lim}^{+}}=\mathrm{O}$ and $\mathrm{N}\equiv \mathrm{N}{\displaystyle {lim}^{+}}–\mathrm{O}̄$ .