Evaluation of N—H…S and N—H…π interactions in O,O′‐diethyl N‐(2,4,6‐trimethylphenyl)thiophosphate: a combination of X‐ray crystallographic and theoretical studies

In the crystal structure of O,O′‐diethyl N‐(2,4,6‐trimethylphenyl)thiophosphate, C₁₃H₂₂NO₂PS, two symmetrically independent thiophosphoramide molecules are linked through N—H…S and N—H…π hydrogen bonds to form a noncentrosymmetric dimer, with Z′ = 2. The strengths of the hydrogen bonds were evaluated using density functional theory (DFT) at the M06‐2X level within the 6‐311++G(d,p) basis set, and by considering the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM). It was found that the N—H…S hydrogen bond is slightly stronger than the N—H…π hydrogen bond. This is reflected in differences between the calculated N—H stretching frequencies of the isolated molecules and the frequencies of the same N—H units involved in the different hydrogen bonds of the hydrogen‐bonded dimer. For these hydrogen bonds, the corresponding charge transfers, i.e. lp (or π)→σ*, were studied, according to the second‐order perturbation theory in natural bond orbital (NBO) methodology. Hirshfeld surface analysis was applied for a detailed investigation of all the contacts participating in the crystal packing.