A 1:1 complex of ethanol (C2H5OH) and benzene (C6H6) was characterized by matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy. Co-deposition experiments of these two molecules were performed in both argon and nitrogen (N2) matrices at 20 K and yielded new peaks for the O-H group stretching within the ethanol and the out-of-plane bending vibration within the benzene. Identification of the new peaks assigned to the 1:1 C2H5OH:C6H6 complex was partly determined by comparing the co-deposition spectra to the separate monomer spectra of ethanol and benzene in an argon and nitrogen matrix. Theoretical calculations using the Gaussian 03W computational chemistry program at the B3LYP level with the aug-cc-pvdz basis set were performed for the C2H5OH-C6H6 complex. The theoretical infrared spectra were compared to the experimental spectra to help assign the peaks of the 1:1 C2H5OH:C6H6 complex.

Characterization of an ethanol-benzene complex using matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy

249th National Meeting (2015)

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