Raman Spectra of Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide and of Tetramethylammonium Iodide

This thesis is being archived as a Digitized Shelf Copy for campus access to current students and staff only. We currently cannot provide this open access without the author's permission. If you are the author of this work and desire to provide it open access or wish access removed please contact the Wahlstrom Library to discuss permission.The primary purpose of this thesis is to present the Raman spectrum of (CH3) 4NoH, a compound which has not been examined previously. Raman spectra of this compound in an aqueous solution, in the melt, and 0 as a solid have been recorded by using the 5145A line of an Argon ion laser as the excitation source, and polarization data have been recorded for all lines observed in the solution and in the melt. It has been assumed that the (OH)- ion has no covalent bond to (CH3) 4N+ and that, therefore, (CH3) 4NOH in solution and in the melt would behave as if it consisted of isolated (CH3) 4N+ ion, and (OH)- ions. As such, it would be expected to produce a Raman spectrum very similar to that which Edsall reported for (CH3) 4NCl. Because of the vastly greater efficiency of the laser source compared to the mercury source used by Edsall, it would also be expected that more and better-defined polarization data would be available. A secondary purpose of this paper is to record and to assign the frequencies in the Raman spectrum of (CH3) 4NI, previously recorded by Krishnamurthy, in order to note and explain differences which can be attributed to the excitation sources used then and now. The specific goals of this paper are summarized below: (1) To compare the Raman spectra of (CH3) 4NOH in the solution and in the melt, and to make the frequency assignments for both spectra. (2) To match the frequency assignments for (CH3 ) 4NOH against those made by earlier workers based on Edsall's data for (CH3) 4NC1. (3) To compare the Raman spectrum and the attendant frequency assignments for (CH3) 4NOH with the Raman spectra of (CH3) 4Pb, (CH3) 4sn, (CH3) 4Ge recorded by Lippincott and Tobin [5] in order to indicate the similarities and differences between two totally different classes of compounds with the same symmetry properties. (4) To compare the frequencies observed in this work for (CH3) 4NOH.5H2o (solid state) and for (CH3) 4NI (solid state) with the data taken by Krishnamurthy for (CH3) 4NI (solid state) and with Edsall's original data. (5) To postulate a possible mechanism which would explain the Edsall dilemma without violating selection rules