Vibrational spectra and structure of cyclopentane and its isotopomers.

The infrared and Raman spectra of vapor, liquid, and solid state cyclopentane and its d(1), 1,1-d(2), 1,1,2,2,3,3-d(6), and d(10) isotopomers have been recorded and analyzed. The experimental work was complemented by ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The computations confirm that the two conformational forms of cyclopentane are the twist (C(2)) and bent (C(s)) structures and that they differ very little in energy, less than about 10 cm(-1) (0.1 kJ/mol). The bending angle for the C(s) form is 41.5° and the dihedral angle of twisting is 43.2° for the C(2) form. A reliable and complete vibrational assignment for each of the isotopomers has been achieved for the first time, and these agree very well with the DFT (B3LYP/cc-pVTZ) computations. The ab initio CCSD/cc-pVTZ calculations predict a barrier to planarity of 1887 cm(-1), which is in excellent agreement with the experimental value of 1808 cm(-1).