Microwave measurements and structure calculations for a glyoxylic acid – Water complex

The microwave spectra for a hydrogen-bonded trans-2 glyoxylic acid–water complex were measured in the 6–16 GHz frequency range using two Flygare-Balle type pulsed beam Fourier transform microwave (FTMW) spectrometers. The rotational constants for the dimer were determined to have the following values: A = 9384.2354(31), B = 1707.63973(73), and C = 1447.44879(56) MHz. The hydrogen bonded structures and rotational constants were calculated for the lowest energy dimglyoxylic acid - water using DFT, MP2 and CCSD calculations with various basis sets. The B3LYP/aug-cc-PVQZ-DG3 calculations yielded rotational constants of A = 9393.59, B = 1713.76, and C = 1453.23 MHz, in very good agreement with experimental values. The calculations show two feasible tunneling motions involving hydrogen atoms in this complex.