Abstract
A perturbation calculation of the interaction between close-lying 2σ and 2II states of diatomic molecules has been carried out to the fourth order. The formula for the spin-splitting of the 2σ states thus obtained has been found to yield a proper explanation for the large anomalies encountered in the spinsplitting of the B 2σ states of the hydrides and deuterides of Ca, Sr and Ba. Especially for CaH, CaD, SrH and SrD good agreement between theoretical and fitted values has been found for the higher-order correction terms to the spin-splitting.