Precipitation of formaldehyde from solid xenon solutions. Infrared spectra of dissolved and aggregated formaldehyde

Optically clear solutions of ?0.01 mole % formaldehyde in solid xenon have been grown in cells of 1.3 cm thickness. Infrared absorption spectra have been obtained, and near the melting point of xenon the absorption features are fairly similr to those found for formaldehyde dissolved in liquid xenon. As the temperature of the solid solution is lowered,the formaldehyde precipitates from solution and the spectra change considerably. Absorption spectra of aggregated CH2O and CD2O have been measured; the mode corresponding to the CO stretch shows considerable structure.