The magnetic rotation spectrum of formaldehyde: singlet–triplet perturbations in the 2141, 2143, 2243, and 2341 levels of the à lA2 state of H2CO
The absorption spectra and magnetic rotation spectra of the [Formula: see text],[Formula: see text],[Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] bands of the [Formula: see text] system of formaldehyde have been studied at high resolution. The earlier analyses of the absorption bands have been refined and improved molecular constants obtained. Several singlet–singlet perturbations have been noted and possible mechanisms discussed.The magnetic activity falls into two classes. Three of the bands show limited singlet–singlet activity with characteristics similar to those found earlier for the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] bands. All the bands show singlet–triplet activity which is characterized by the appearance of rR, rP, pR, and PP transitions associated with a common upper level. Tables of perturbed excited-state singlet levels are given. No appreciable shifts of the perturbed levels have been found indicating that the matrix elements are small. For the [Formula: see text] band two perturbation mechanisms are proposed and the vibrational symmetries and energies of the perturbing triplet states are determined. The energies are too high to permit unambiguous vibrational assignments.