THE ABSORPTION SPECTRUM OF CNO AND ITS ISOMERIZATION TO NCO IN A NEON MATRIX

Author Institution:The CNO radical has been generated in solid neon by in situ photolysis ($\lambda =1216$ {\AA}) of fulminic acid, HCNO. The $e -\tilde{A} (^{2}\Pi$) transition of CNO in the neon matrix has its origin at $12 541 cm^{-1}$ and it is characterized by vibrational frequencies of 1247 and $2239 cm^{-1}$, in the upper state. Excitation into the $\tilde{A}$ state produced no observable fluorescence, although it did produce efficient isomerization of CNO into NCO. Efforts to observe the infrared spectrum of CNO have not been successful to date. Apparently the isomerization to NCO prevents the build-up of an adequate concentration of CND for infrared absorption studies