Electric Deflection of Molecular Beams of Carbon Suboxide and Carbon Subsulfide

Abstract

The deflection behavior of molecular beams of C3O2 at 200 and 300°K and C3S2 at 300°K has been studied in inhomogeneous electric fields. Both species show net defocusing of the scattered beam with applied field. By comparison with the bent molecule NO2 whose electric dipole moment is known, upper limits of 0.15 D were placed on the electric moments of C3O2 and C3S2. These limits, coupled with extimates of the integrated absorption intensities obtained from published spectra for the ν7 vibration, permit upper limits of 0.15 rad to be placed on the bending angle. The most probable configuration is thus linear.