The gas phase infrared spectrum of vanadium (III) oxyfluoride, OVF has been recorded. The molecule was generated for the first time by an on-line process using vanadium oxychloride, OVCl, as a precursor passed over heated sodium fluoride at about 570°C. The infrared spectrum shows two bands centred at 1028, and 807 cm−1, which are assigned to ν3 (O=V stretch) and ν2 (V–F stretch), respectively. Ab initio self-consistent-field (SCF) molecular orbital (MO) calculations were performed to determine the geometry, total energy and the vibrational frequencies of OVF.
