Microwave spectra, structure, and dynamics of the weakly bound complex, N_2 CO_2

摘要

The Fourier transform microwave spectra of the various isotopologs of the weakly bound complex of carbon dioxide with the most abundant molecule in the atmosphere, nitrogen, have been measured. The structure of the complex has been determined and evidence for the inversion of the N_2 is presented. The molecule is T-shaped, with the OCO forming the cross of the T, a structure consistent with that deduced from a previous rotationally resolved infrared experiment. A significant wide-amplitude bending motion of the N_2 is deduced from the values of the (nearly identical) nuclear quadrupole coupling constants of the nitrogen nuclei. The spectroscopic results are compared with high-quality ab initio calculations. We examine the consequences of the N _2 CO_2 complex formation in the atmosphere upon the greenhouse warming potential of carbon dioxide.