The Forbidden Rotational Q-Branch of CH3CF3: Torsional Properties and (A1 - A2) Splittings.

The pure rotational spectrum driven by the small distortion dipole moment perpendicular to the symmetry axis has been investigated between 8 and 18 GHz for CH3CF3 in the ground vibrational state using a pulsed Fourier transform waveguide spectrometer. This molecule has been selected as a prototype for the case of a symmetric top with small ( approximately 500 kHz) torsional energy splittings in the ground torsional state (nu6 = 0). In this state, six (k +/- 3 <-- k) Q-branch series have been measured for lower state K = |k| between 3 and 8 with 27