Millimeter- and submillimeter-wave spectroscopy of platinum monocyanide, PtCN

Monomeric platinum cyanide, PtCN, was detected in the gas phase by employing a source-modulated microwave spectrometer. The PtCN radical was generated in a free space cell using the sputtering reaction from a platinum sheet placed on the inner surface of a stainless steel cathode through a dc glow plasma of CH 3 CN diluted with Ar. The rotational constants obtained for several isotopomers indicated that the monomeric platinum cyanide is in a cyanide form (PtCN) and not in an isocyanide form (PtNC). Observed fine- and hyperfine-spectral patterns suggest that the PtCN radical has the 2 Δ 5 / 2 electronic ground state.