The Electron-Diffraction Investigation of the Molecular Structure of Cyanogen and Diacetylene (with a Note on Chlorine Dioxide).

The structures of cyanogen and diacetylene have been previously investigated by the electron-diffraction method by Wierl,I who reported nonlinear models with 1500 bond angles for both molecules. The improbability of this conclusion, which is incompatible with all other evidence for the angle between a triple and a single bond on the same carbon atom, led to a reinvestigation of these compounds by the electron-diffraction method. The models for which theoretical intensity curves were calculated were chosen from a consideration of the electronic structures corresponding to low energy values for the molecule. Those for cyanogen may be represented as follows: :N:::C:C:::N: I