Investigation of UV spectra of isomeric nitropyrazoles by the semiempirical AM1 (CI) method

The absorption bands in the UV spectra of isomeric nitropyrazoles were assigned by the calculations in the semiempirical AMI (CI) approximation. The long-wave absorption of nitropyrazoles is caused by π→π* and η₀→π* transitions. The charge-transfer band is the most intense. The π→π* transitions undergo a considerable bathochromic shift in the deprotonation. The first ionization potential (PI) of the 4-nitropyrazole anion was estimated from the empirical dependence of the energy of the excited π-state on PI of alkyl-substituted 4-nitropyrazoles. The PI of the 4-nitropyrazole anion is 3 eV lower than that of a neutral molecule. This is evidence for a substantial destabilization of the boundary β-orbital in the heterolytic cleavage of the N−H bond. The analysis of the UV and NMR spectra of 3(5)-nitropyrazole confirms the viewpoint that the 3-nitro tautomer predominates in solution. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya. No. 2, pp. 310–314, February, 1997.