Ab initio calculation of the potential energy surface for the large-amplitude bending and symmetric stretching vibration in the electronic ground state of XeF2

A two-dimensional symmetric stretching-bending potential surface for the electronic ground state of the XeF2 molecule has been computed by means of self-consistent field and multi-reference configuration interaction methods. At the correlated level of treatment it is found that the linear in nuclear arrangement of XeF2 with XeF bond distances close to 200 pm corresponds only to a local minimum on the potential energy surface separated from the dissociation products Xe + 2F by a high energy barrier. The results of a vibrational analysis study enable a reliable reproduction and interpretation of available experimental data concerning the infrared spectrum of the molecule.