The equilibrium structure of thiophene by the combined use of electron diffraction, vibrational spectroscopy and microwave spectroscopy guided by theoretical calculations

The equilibrium molecular geometry of thiophene has been determined from a combination of gas-phase electron diffraction, vibrational and microwave data and ab initio and DFT calculations. The quadratic and cubic force constants of thiophene calculated theoretically and empirically improved by harmonic scale factors were incorporated in the analysis in which equilibrium distances and harmonic scale factors were refined simultaneously. The diffraction intensities were calculated by the use of first-order perturbation theory. The commonly used ra distances and amplitudes of vibration were also estimated and found to agree reasonably well with those from an earlier investigation. Anharmonic phase shift parameters for all atom pairs and the various distance correction terms are presented.