The electronic gas-phase spectrum of B₃ radical revisited

The gas-phase electronic spectrum of cyclic-B3 (D3h) radical has been remeasured in a supersonic molecular beam using a mass-selective resonant 2-color 2-photon technique, leading to a revision of previously reported spectroscopic constants. The species was prepared by ablation of a boron nitride rod in the presence of helium. Ab intio calculations on the geometries and vertical electronic excitation energies, as well as mass identification, indicate that the detected band, centered at 21848.77(2) cm−1, is the origin of the cyclic-11B3 system. A spectral fit yields the rotational constants as B″ = 1.2246(45) and C″ = 0.62131(72) cm−1 in the ground state, and B′ = 1.1914(44) and C′ = 0.61173(69) cm−1 in the excited 2 2E′ state.