MICROWAVE SPECTRUM AND RING-PUCKERING POTENTIAL FUNCTION OF CYCLOBUTANONE

Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, Stanford UniversityRotational constants have been obtained for cyclobutanone in the first six levels of the ring-puckering vibration. A small potential barrier of $7 \pm 4 cm^{-1}$ exists at the planar configuration with the ground vibrational state lying $10 \pm 3 cm^{-1}$ above the barrier. Stark effect measurements yield a value of $2.89 \pm .03$ D for the dipole moment in the ground vibrational state