Conformations of dimethoxymethylphenylsilane: A matrix isolation infrared and ab initio study

Conformations of dimethoxymethylphenylsilane (DMMPS) were studied using matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy and ab initio computations. DMMPS was trapped in both argon and nitrogen matrixes, using an effusive nozzle source and a supersonic jet source. In order to corroborate our experimental observations, the structure, energy and vibrational frequencies of the conformers of DMMPS were computed at HF and B3LYP levels of theory, using a 6–31++G∗∗ basis set. The vibrational spectra, obtained in the matrix isolation experiments, were found to be assignable to the lowest energy conformer, with a G±G∓ structure.