Association of tert-butyl alcohol: a matrix infrared study

Abstract Infrared spectra of (CH 3 ) 3 COH, (CH 3 ) 3 COD, (CD 3 ) 3 COH and (CD 3 ) 3 COD have been studied in the liquid and solid states, in CCl 4 and CS 2 solutions, and in argon, krypton and nitrogen matrices. The Raman spectra of the solids and of CCl 4 , and H 2 O solutions have been recorded. The matrix infrared results show that in the matrices tert-butyl alcohol has two well-defined dimer associates, both of which seem to have an open-chain structure. A network is proposed for the higher associates. The relative strengths of the protium and deuterium bonds are discussed in terms of the monomer hydroxyl-stretching frequencies and the Δ v shifts. Association characteristics of the most important fundamental bands in several spectra are given.