Rotational Isomerism and the Vibrational Spectrum of Sym-Dideuterodibromoethane

Trans-ethylene-d2 was brominated by two methods, which involved different stereochemical paths, to give 95 percent meso-BrDHC-CHDBr as one product and a mixture of meso- and racemic-BrDHC-CHDBr as the other. Liquid phase Raman spectra and liquid and solid phase infrared spectra of these materials have been obtained and a tentative assignment of the vibrational frequencies of BrDHC-CHDBr to the trans and skew configurations of the meso and racemic compounds has been made.