The millimeter wave rotational spectrum of pyruvic acid

The rotational spectrum of pyruvic acid has been investigated for the first time in the millimeter-wave region, at 160-314 GHz, and also in supersonic expansion, at 10-17.4 GHz. The analysis of the broadband spectra recorded in this work was carried out with the newly developed AABS software package for Assignment and Analysis of Broadband Spectra, and precise spectroscopic constants are reported for the ground state, the first excited state of the low-frequency skeletal torsional mode ν24, and the first excited state of the methyl torsional mode ν23. Limited results have also been obtained for several higher excited states. The dataset for the ground state currently exceeds 1500 lines and for both the A and E internal rotor sublevels spans the complete range of values of Ka at the mid values of J for the measured transitions. The results were analysed with three freely available computer programs employing different strategies for dealing with internal rotation and a comparative discussion of their merits is made.