A study on the anisole–carbon dioxide van der Waals complex by high resolution electronic spectroscopy

Abstract

The van der Waals complex formed by anisole and carbon dioxide was studied in a supersonic beam by means of high resolution electronic spectroscopy. The spectrum was assigned by means of a rigid rotor Hamiltonian model. A planar complex structure was obtained and described with a simple three-parameter geometrical model. It is shown that the carbon dioxide molecule lies to the side of the aromatic ring close to the methoxy group. This geometry is quite different from those resulting from previous studies on similar systems like phenol–carbon monoxide or phenol–nitrogen where the hydroxyl group directly bonds to the N₂ and CO molecules.