The absorption spectra of conjugated dienes in the vacuum ultra-violet (1)

Abstract Butadiene is important as the simplest example of resonance between two conjugated double bonds. The comparison of its ultra-violet absorption spectrum with that of ethylene might be expected to give some indication of the way the π electrons of the molecule are affected by the resonance. The electronic structures of a number of molecules for which resonance is important have been worked out theoretically by Hückel (1935), Lennard- Jones (1937), Sklar (1937) and Mulliken (1939a and b). The purpose of the present work is to obtain spectroscopic data with which the theoretical expectations can be compared. As most of the strong absorption bands of these molecules occur at wave-lengths less than 2000 A, the investigation falls naturally into the region of vacuum spectroscopy.