Nature of nonbonded Se...O interactions characterized by 17O NMR spectroscopy and NBO and AIM analyses

To investigate the nature of nonbonded Se...O interactions, three series of 2-substituted benzeneselenenyl derivatives 2-(CHO)C6H4SeX (1), 2-(CH2OH)C6H4SeX, (2), 2-(CH2OiPr)C6H4SeX (3); X = Cl, Br, CN, SPh, SeAr, Me] were synthesized. The 17O NMR absorption observed for 17O-enriched aldehydes 1 appeared upfield relative to benzaldehyde (PhCHO), while the opposite downfield shifts relative to benzyl alcohol (PhCH2OH) were observed for 17O-enriched alcohols 2 and ethers 3. The magnitude of both the upfield and the downfield shifts became larger as the electron-withdrawing ability of a substituent X increased. Quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP level revealed that for all model compounds the most stable conformer has an intramolecular nonbonded Se.O interaction. Thus, the relative 17O NMR chemical shifts (DeltadeltaO) for 1-3 would reflect the strengths of the Se...O interactions. The natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis demonstrated that the stabilization energy due to an nO --> sigma Se-X orbital interaction (ESe...O) correlates with the Se...O atomic distance on a single curve irrespective of the type of the O atom. On the other hand, the atoms in molecules (AIM) analysis showed that the nonbonded Se...O interactions can be characterized by the presence of a bond critical point, the total energy density (HSe...O) of which decreases with strengthening of the interaction. The results suggested that Se...O interactions have a dominant covalent character rather than an electrostatic one.