Infrared band intensities in ammonium hydroxide and ammonium salts*

We have applied Kramers-Kronig analysis to reflection spectra to determine the optical constants of ammonium hydroxide and of aqueous solutions of ammonium chloride and bromide. From considerations of the absorption indices k(ν) we conclude that ammonium hydroxide consists of a solution of NH3 in water, in which NH3 molecules are hydrogen bonded to neighboring water molecules. The spectrum of ammonium hydroxide differs from the spectra of ammonium salts, in which bands characteristic of NH4+ ions are prominent. The existence of ammonium hydroxide as an aerosol in planetary atmospheres is briefly discussed.