Intramolecular competition between n-pair and π-pair hydrogen bonding: Microwave spectrum and internal dynamics of the pyridine-acetylene hydrogen-bonded complex.

a-type rotational spectra of the hydrogen-bonded complex formed from pyridine and acetylene are reported. Rotational and (14)N hyperfine constants indicate that the complex is planar with an acetylenic hydrogen directed toward the nitrogen. However, unlike the complexes of pyridine with HCl and HBr, the acetylene moiety in HCCH-NC5H5 does not lie along the symmetry axis of the nitrogen lone pair, but rather, forms an average angle of 46° with the C2 axis of the pyridine.