INFRARED SPECTRA AND GEOMETRY OF TIF2 AND TIF3 IN RARE-GAS MATRICES

From an infrared study of gaseous TiF2 and TiF3 species isolated in neon and argon rare-gas matrices values of the symmetric and antisymmetric vibrational frequencies were obtained. Bond-angle measurements for TiF2, made using the isotope shift method, indicated a value of 130°±5°. This result has been rationalized in terms of possible electronic configurations for TiF2. Equilibrium constants for the reaction 2TiF3(g)+Ti(s)→3TiF2(g) were measured and combined with calculated free-energy-function data to indicate the stability of TiF2.