Experimental study of the O–H ring vibrations of the methanol trimer

The O–H ring vibrations of the methanol trimer have been measured employing molecular beam depletion spectroscopy in combination with mass spectrometric detection and kinematic size selection. Three vibrational bands (at 3434, 3472, and 3503 cm−1, respectively) have been identified as being due to the methanol trimer. The observation of three bands is consistent with the asymmetric ring structure predicted by theoretical calculations.