The Structure of Liquid Tetrahydrofuran

摘要

Hydrogen/deuterium isotopic substitution neutron diffraction techniques have been used to measure the structural correlation functions of liquid tetrahydrofuran at room temperature.Empirical potential structure refinement(EPSR)has been used to build a three-dimensional model of the liquid structure that is consistent with the experimental data.Analysis to the level of the orientational correlation functions shows that the liquid displays a preference for T-like configurations between the tetrahydrofuran molecules,a local structure that results in voidlike regions of approximately 1.25 A radius within the bulk liquid.The surface chemistry of these voids suggests a slightly positive electrostatic character.These findings are consistent with the known propensity of the liquid to solvate free electrons.