Direct observation of the cyclic dimer in liquid acetic acid by probing the C=O vibration with ultrafast coherent Raman spectroscopy.

We present a comparison of spontaneous Raman and ultrafast coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectra of the C=O vibration of liquid acetic acid. The former technique cannot clearly reveal the number of contributions in the spectrum. However, the additional time and spectrally resolved CARS experiment supports strictly the existence of four modes, which proves the coexistence of more than one H-bonded configuration in liquid acetic acid. A comparably slowly dephasing mode which is obscured by a broad band in the linear Raman spectrum is assigned to the cyclic dimer and can be observed freed from all other contributions by ultrafast CARS.