Propinal O-oxide has been generated by the thermal reaction of proparg
ylene and molecular oxygen under the condition of matrix-isolation in
O2-doped argon matrices. The carbonyl oxide and several products of it
s photolysis have been characterized using IR and UV-VIS spectroscopy.
The infrared spectrum has been calculated using ab initio calculation
s at the QCISD/6-31G(d, p) level of theory. There is a good agreement
between experimental and calculated IR data for the s-Z isomer of the
carbonyl oxide and some evidence for the formation of smaller amounts
of the s-E isomer. Thus, experimental and high-level ab initio data of
a carbonyl oxide can be compared directly and geometrical isomers dis
tinguished.