Darling-Dennison resonance and Coriolis coupling in the bending overtones of the (A)over-tilde (1)A(u) state of acetylene, C2H2

Rotational analyses have been carried out for the overtones of the nu(4) (torsion) and nu(6) (in-plane cis-bend) vibrations of the (A) over tilde (1)A(u) state of C2H2. The v(4)+v(6)=2 vibrational polyad was observed in high-sensitivity one-photon laser-induced fluorescence spectra and the v(4)+v(6)=3 polyad was observed in IR-UV double resonance spectra via the ground state nu(3) (Sigma(+)(u)) and nu(3)+nu(4) (Pi(u)) vibrational levels. The structures of these polyads are dominated by the effects of vibrational angular momentum: Vibrational levels of different symmetry interact via strong a-and b-axis Coriolis coupling, while levels of the same symmetry interact via Darling-Dennison resonance, where the interaction parameter has the exceptionally large value K-4466=-51.68 cm(-1). The K-structures of the polyads bear almost no resemblance to the normal asymmetric top patterns, and many local avoided crossings occur between close-lying levels with nominal K-values differing by one or more units. Least squares analysis shows that the coupling parameters change only slightly with vibrational excitation, which has allowed successful predictions of the structures of the higher polyads: A number of weak bands from the v(4)+v(6)=4 and 5 polyads have been identified unambiguously. The state discovered by Scherer [J. Chem. Phys. 85, 6315 (1986)], which appears to interact with the K=1 levels of the 3(3) vibrational state at low J, is identified as the second highest of the five K=1 members of the v(4)+v(6)=4 polyad. After allowing for the Darling-Dennison resonance, the zero-order bending structure can be represented by omega(4)=764.71, omega(6)=772.50, x(44)=0.19, x(66)=-4.23, and x(46)=11.39 cm(-1). The parameters x(46) and K-4466 are both sums of contributions from the vibrational angular momentum and from the anharmonic force field. For x(46) these contributions are 14.12 and -2.73 cm(-1), respectively, while the corresponding values for K-4466 are -28.24 and -23.44 cm(-1). It is remarkable how severely the coupling of nu(4) and nu(6) distorts the overtone polyads, and also how in this case the effects of vibrational angular momentum outweigh those of anharmonicity in causing the distortion. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.