VIBRATIONAL-SPECTRA AND STRUCTURE OF THE KO2 COMPLEX IN SOLID ARGON - A FAR-INFRARED STUDY

The observation of new fundamental frequencies for the potassium superoxide KO2 is reported for different isotopic species: nu(3) of (KO2)-K-39-O-16, (KO2)-K-39-O-18 and (KOO)-K-39-O-16-O-18, and nu(2) of (KO2)-K-41-O-16, (KO2)-K-41-O-18, (KOO)-K-41-O-16-O-18 and (KOO)-K-39-O-17-O-18. Using these values and a fixed O-O internuclear distance, we calculated the geometry and force constants from a harmonic force field. We estimated an O-K-O angle of 37 degrees+/-2 degrees, and a K-O internuclear distance of the order of 2.10+/-0.14 Angstrom. These values disagree with previous theoretical determinations.