Negative pion transfer from pionic hydrogen to carbon and oxygen in alcohols and carboxylic acids was studied. The pion capture probability on hydrogen at a particular site in the molecules was obtained from measurements for the ordinary compound and the deuterated one. The method revealed that the pionic hydrogen atoms originating from hydrogen in different chemical environments show different behavior. The transfer process was discussed with a large mesomolecular model combined with an external transfer process.

• Received 27 November 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.76.2460