Introduction.- Quantum Chemical Methods.- Rovibrational Spectroscopy and Structure of Diatomic Molecules.- Rotational Constants of a Polyatomic Molecule.- Equilibrium Structures of Semirigid Molecules from the Rotational Constants.- Structure of Nonrigid Molecules by Spectroscopic Methods.- Equilibrium Molecular Structure as Determined by Gas-phase Electron Diffraction.- Other Methods, Mainly for the X–H bond (X = C, N, O).- Database with Equilibrium Structures of Free Molecules.
Natalja Vogt received her Ph.D. in physical chemistry on the topic “Electron diffraction study of the first-row transition metal difluorides” from the Ivanovo University of Chemical Technology (now Russia) in 1986 in Prof. G. V. Girichev’s group. In 1989, she received also her diploma in physics from Ivanovo State University, afterward carrying out postdoctoral research at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest in Prof. Istvan Hargittai’s group from 1989 to 1990. Since 2013, she is also Professor in the Chemistry Department at the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Between 1993 and 2014, she was Co-editor and/or Co-author of the Landolt-Börnstein volumes “Structure Data of Free Polyatomic Molecules” (Group II: Molecules and Radicals; V.23, V.25(A-D), V.28(A-D), V.30(A, B)). Natalja Vogt has more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, including 16 books.
Jean Demaison studied chemical engineering at the École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques in Nancy, France, from 1964 to 1967. After being awarded his diploma in October of 1967, he obtained a position at the French Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) as Researcher in the theoretical chemistry laboratory at the University of Nancy. He received his Ph.D. in 1972, in this laboratory on the topic “Internal rotation of two top molecules in rotational spectroscopy” under the direction of Prof. Jean Barriol, in conjunction with research he carried out in Freiburg, Germany, under the direction of Prof. Heinz Dieter Rudolph.
He was promoted Research Director at CNRS in 1985. From 2001 to 2004, he was Guest Professor at the University of Louvain-La-Neuve, and from 2006 to 2008, at the Free University of Brussels. He was also Visiting Scientist in several laboratories (Austin, Kiel, Mühlheim, Valladolid). Jean Demaison published more than 370 papers and 22 books.
This book examines around 400 of the most striking examples of structural studies of free molecules—selected and analyzed by virtue of the unique molecular complexity and novelty of the experimental techniques used. The properties of chemical, pharmaceutical, and biological compounds depend mainly on their molecular structure, the determination of which is of fundamental interest. Featuring high-quality structural data determined using modern techniques in electron diffraction and high-resolution spectroscopy, the book is an indispensable resource for graduate students and professional scientists specializing in structural chemistry and other relevant fields.