Vibrational spectroscopy of perfluorocarboxylic acids from the infrared to the visible regions

We report here the gas-phase mid-IR, near-IR, and visible vibrational spectra of perfluoropropionic, perfluorooctanoic, and perfluorononanoic acids using Fourier transform and cavity ring-down spectroscopy. The impetus for this work was to provide insight into the behavior of environmentally persistent perfluorocarboxylic acids. Although the most intense transition for all three perfluorocarboxylic acids in the fundamental spectra is the CF3 stretch, the O-H stretch carries the most intensity in the overtone region. We record the O-H stretching transition frequencies and absorption cross-sections in the Delta upsilon(OH) = 1-5 regions. Our work suggests that perfluorocarboxylic acids have more harmonic O-H bonds, smaller transition frequencies, and smaller intensities as compared to shorter-chain hydrocarbon acids, alcohols, and peroxides.