A study of the molecular structure of methyl allenyl ether by means of gas electron diffraction

Abstract From the electron diffraction pattern of gaseous methyl allenyl ether at room temperature the following bond lengths and bond angles for the molecular structure were obtained (standard deviations in parentheses): CC = 1.318 (0.004) A, C-O = 1.375 (0.007) A, C'-O = 1.427 (0.008) A, CC-O = 125.3 (1.2)°, C-O-C' = 115.0 (1.2)°. The best model obtained by a least-squares fit on the molecular intensity curves is a planar cis -conformation ( C s symmetry) with a large torsional motion of the OCH 3 group around the other ether linkage, the average of the absolute value of the torsion angle is 23 (6)°. There is no evidence of the presence of other conformations at this temperature.