Orbital nature in the electronic states of cyclopropene

Self-consistent field results for the excited electronic states of cyclopropene, with regard to the spatial extent of the π* orbital in the lowest energy ¹(π, π*) state, are found to be identical with that for ethylene. Due to the forced planarity of the ring structure, dihedrally twisted conformers of the upper electronic state cannot contribute significantly to the oscillator strength which must therefore receive a substantial contribution from the vertical transition; this conclusion is contrary to the self-consistent field results. For a proper theoretical treatment of the problem the importance of a multiconfiguration approach in an extended basis with ¹(σ, σ*)-type states is emphasized.