Abstract
The FT-microwave spectrum of n-butylgermane, CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₂GeH₃ has been investigated from 4000 to 18,000MHz and the microwave spectra have been observed for all of the five naturally occurring germanium isotopologues for the anti–anti (aa) conformer. The dipole moment for the ⁷⁴Ge containing species has been measured, giving a total dipole moment of 0.881 (26)D. In addition, the vibrational spectrum of n-butylgermane is described. Modestly complete assignments are made for the aa conformer. The relative stabilities of the five conformers are calculated, and the anti–anti (aa) conformer is found to be the most stable in all calculations done. This conclusion is confirmed by the infrared and Raman spectrum of the annealed crystal. The dipole moments of all conformers are calculated to be approximately equal and less than 1D, ranging from approximately 0.8 to 0.9D.