The molecular structure of xanthone as studied by gas-phase electron diffraction

The molecular structure of gaseous xanthone has been determined from electron diffraction data. The molecule is planar and has C 2v symmetry. The molecular parameters obtained from the least-squares analysis are r g (CC) = 1.402±0.002 A, r g (CH) = 1.088±0.009 A, r g (CO) = 1.367±0.008 A, r g (CC c ) = 1.492±0.005 A, r g (C c O) = 1.239±0.007 A, ∠ COC = 119.7±1.1° and ∠ CC c C=115.7±0.8°. The benzene ring in the molecule was assumed to be a regular hexagon in the analysis, but the symmetry of the ring appeared to be lower.