Thermodynamic stability of 2,4,6-tris(nitromethyl)-1,3,5-triazine: an experimental and theoretical study

The molecular geometries and electronic structures of 2,4,6-tris(nitromethyl)-1,3,5-triazine isomers were investigated by the density functional method DFT/B3LYP/6-311++G** to elucidate the structural factors responsible for the stability of these systems. It was shown that a characteristic feature of the nitromethyl tautomer (1) of 2,4,6-tris (nitromethyl)-1,3,5-triazine consists in nonvalence interactions between an oxygen atom of nitro group and a carbon atom of triazine ring, which are probably due to Coulomb attraction between them. The tautomer with the 2,4,6-tris (nitromethylene)-hexahyrdo-1,3,5-triazine structure (2) is stabilized trough direct polar conjugation between the amino and nitro groups at the double bond. Structural strain of the molecule with the 2,4,6-tris(aci-nitromethyl)-1,3,5-triazine structure (3) is the reason for its thermodynamic instability. X-ray data indicate that the compound under study exists in the triazine tautomeric form 1 and the distances between oxygen atoms of nitro group and carbon atom of the triazine ring are shortened. NMR data suggest the existence of triazine in the nitromethyl form 1 in acetonitrile and acetone and a tautomeric equilibrium between the nitromethyl and nitromethylene forms in a more polar solvent (DMSO). The results obtained suggest a Coulomb-type stabilization of the 2,4,6-tris(nitromethyl)-1,3,5-triazine molecule in the gas phase, in the crystal, and in nonpolar solvents.