Conformational equilibria in carboxylic acid bimolecules: a rotational study of acrylic acid-formic acid.

The bimolecule acrylic acid-formic acid has been investigated by pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. The complex adopts two different conformational shapes, according to the cis or trans forms of the acrylic acid moiety. The measurements have been extended to four deuterated and to four (13)C (natural abundance) species, and their combinations, for each conformer. These data allowed us to determine the carbon skeleton structures and to size quantitatively the structural effect caused by the OH → OD isotopic substitutions (the Ubbelohde effect).