The vibrational spectra of N-phenylpyrrole in the gas phase, in argon matrices and in single crystals

The infrared spectrum of N-phenylpyrrole (PP) was measured in the gas phase and in an argon matrix, and the Raman spectrum was obtained in a single crystal. The measured matrix shifts are found to be small: many bands are not split, and the shifts from the gas phase values are less than 1%. Splitting to two sub-bands is observed for some bands, indicating the presence of two major trapping sites, in agreement with previous predictions. The spectra are analyzed with the help of harmonic calculations on the free molecule and on its adduct with one or two argon atoms, and anharmonic frequency calculations on the free molecule. Harmonic frequencies were obtained at the MP2/cc-pVDZ and DFT-B3LYP/cc-pVDZ levels. Anharmonic frequencies were obtained by the correlation-corrected vibrational self-consistent field (CC-VSCF) method with a variant of the PM3 semiempirical electronic structure method, calibrated for much improved spectroscopic accuracy. The potential surfaces used in the CC-VSCF calculation obtained by adjusting standard PM3 surfaces so that they provide harmonic frequencies that are comparable to those obtained at the DFT-B3LYP/cc-pVDZ level. Agreement between the experimental and theoretical results is in general very good, allowing the assignments of most bands. The harmonic frequency calculations of PP-Ar clusters, at the MP2/cc-pVDZ level show that the environment can greatly affect the intensities of some of the transitions, which is in accord with experiment.