Here is the molecule we are interested in.  It is a van der Waals molecule which means that there is at least one van der Waals "Bond" holding it together.

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Argon dimethylsulfide is a "near-prolate" asymmetric top molecule with the geometry shown here.  Actually, according to the Kraitchman equations there is one other posibility given our rotational constants.  This second geometry is very similar to the one shown, but the argon atom is found somewhat closer to the hydrogens of the methyl groups still on or near to the symmetry plane of dimethylsulfide.

Our rotational constants are derived from a least squares fit of 48 spectroscopic transitions to an "A-Reduction" hamiltonian with an average error of less than one part in 10⁶.  Our statistical error is on the order 10 kHz while our measurements are on the order of 10 GHz.

We have yet to complete this work, lacking a good fit of data to an isotopic variant like one with a ³⁴S or one with deuterium substitution.

The dipole moment is not yet precisely determined.  Our best measurement yields a "C-moment" of 1.43 D and an "A-moment" of 0.37 D.  The "B-axis" has only a small amount of polarity projected onto it.  We have observed only A-type and C-type transitions.

Experiments were carried out using a fourier transform microwave spectrometer located at Wesleyan Univeristy in Middletown Connecticut.

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