HIGH RESOLUTION, ROTATIONALLY RESOLVED ELECTRONIC SPECTRA OF $MgCH_{3}$.

$^{a}$Timothy M. Cerny, James M. Williamson and Terry A. Miller J. Chem. Phys. 102, 2372 (1995).Author Institution: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210Very little spectroscopic information is available about Mg-containing species even though they have considerable astrophysical importance and play a significant role in biological systems. The present work reports the first high resolution spectroscopic study of the $MgCH_{3}$ radical. Rotationally resolved spectra have been recorded and analyzed for both spin-orbit components of the ${0_{0}}^{0}$ band of the $\tilde{A}^{2}E\longleftarrow \tilde{X}^{2} A_{1}$ transition in $MgCH_{3}$. The free radicals were obtained using the laser ablation/photolysis $technique^{a}$ and their laser-induced-fluorescence probed in a supersonic free-jet expansion. Analysis of the spectra yields the molecular constants in the $\tilde{X}$ and $\tilde{A}$ states. No Jahn-Teller effect was detected for this radical. A discussion of the fitted constants and the geometry proposed for $MgCH_{3}$ will be presented