Rotational spectra, nuclear quadrupole hyperfine tensors, and conformational structures of the mustard gas simulent 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide

Rotational spectra have been recorded for both the 35Cl and 37Cl isotopic forms of two structural conformations of 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES). The rotational constants of the 35Cl and 37Cl isotopomers were used to identify the conformational isomers. A total of 236 hyperfine transitions have been assigned for 47 rotational transitions of the 35Cl isotope of a GGT conformer, and 146 hyperfine have been assigned for 37 rotational transitions of the 37Cl isotopomer. For the second conformer, a total of 128 (110) hyperfine and 30 (28) rotational transitions have also been assigned to the 35Cl (37Cl) isotopes of a TGT conformation. The extensive hyperfine splitting data, measured to high resolution with a compact Fourier transform microwave spectrometer, were used to determine both the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the 35Cl and 37Cl nuclear quadrupole coupling tensors in the inertial tensor principal axis system. The experimental rotational constant data, as well as the 35Cl and 37Cl nuclear quadrupole coupling tensors, were compared to the results from 27 optimized ab initio (HF/6-311++G∗∗ and MP2/6-311++G∗∗) model structures.