High-resolution photoabsorption spectrum of jet-cooled propyne.

The absolute photoabsorption cross section of propyne was recorded between 62 000 and 88 000 cm−1 by using the vacuum-ultraviolet, Fourier-transform spectrometer at the Synchrotron Soleil. This cross section spans the region including the lowest Rydberg bands and extends above the Franck-Condon envelope for ionization to the ground electronic state of the propyne cation, X ̃+. Room-temperature spectra were recorded in a flowing cell at 0.9 cm−1 resolution, and jet-cooled spectra were recorded at 1.8 cm−1 resolution and a rotational temperature of ∼100 K. The reduced widths of the rotational band envelopes in the latter spectra reveal new structure and simplify a number of assignments. Although nf Rydberg series have not been assigned previously in the photoabsorption spectrum of propyne, arguments are presented for their potential importance, and the assignment of one nf series is proposed. As expected from previous photoelectron spectra, Rydberg series are also observed above the adiabatic ionization threshold that converge to the v3+ = 1 and 2 levels of the C≡C stretching vibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]