NMR method for the determination of solute hydrogen bond acidity

It is shown that the difference in the 1H NMR chemical shift of a protic hydrogen in DMSO and CDCl3 solvents is directly related to the overall, or summation, hydrogen bond acidity for a wide range of solutes. This provides a new and direct method of measuring the hydrogen bond acidity. For 54 compounds, the observed shifts for 72 protic hydrogens could be correlated to the Abraham solute hydrogen bond acidity parameter, A, with a correlation coefficient squared, R2, of 0.938 and a standard deviation, SD, of 0.054 units in A. A training equation that used half the data could predict A values for the remaining data with an average error of 0.001 and a standard deviation, SD, of 0.053 units, thus demonstrating the predictive power of the method. Unlike any previous method for the determination of solute hydrogen bond acidities, the NMR method allows the determination of A values for individual protic hydrogens in multifunctional solutes.     

Theoretical prediction of the hydrogen-bond basicity pK(HB)

Ab initio and DFT calculations on around 65 hydrogen bond or Lewis bases and their complexes with hydrogen fluoride have been performed, and a range of calculated properties from both free bases and complexes correlated with pK(HB), an experimental scale of hydrogen-bond basicity. For the entire range of bases, we found that the hydrogen-bond binding Gibbs free energy computed at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory linearly correlated with pK(HB). Further improvements in the correlation and prediction of pK(HB) were possible with a non-linear fit by considering the hydrogen bonding Gibbs free energy of another possible stereoisomeric 1:1 complex and/or that of a linear 2:1 complex, which included a second hydrogen fluoride.     

The effect of intramolecular interactions on hydrogen bond acidity

DFT calculations on a range of molecules containing intramolecular hydrogen bonds are reported, with a view to establishing how intramolecular hydrogen bonding affects their intermolecular interactions. It is shown that properties such as the energy of the intramolecular H-bond are unrelated to the ability to form external H-bonds. Conversely, several properties of complexes with a reference base correlate well with an experimental scale of H-bond acidity, and accurate predictive models are determined. A more detailed study, using electrostatic and overlap properties of complexes with a reference base, is used to predict the location, as well as strength, of hydrogen bond acidity. The effects of intramolecular hydrogen bonding on acidity can be seen not just on O-H and N-H, where acidity is greatly reduced, but also on certain C-H groups, which in some cases become the primary source of acidity.     

Surface acidity and basicity of functionalized silica particles

Tetraethoxysilane has been co-hydrolyzed with functionalized organosilanes in a modified Stöber process to produce silica particles with amino, carboxylate or dihydroimidazole groups on the surface. The effects of reaction conditions and the loading of the functionalized organosilane on particle size was examined by TEM. Fluorescence spectroscopy of the surface amino groups covalently modified with fluorescamine, and the surface carboxylate groups with 4-bromomethyl-6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, demonstrated that these functional groups were accessible for further reaction. Changes in surface acidity and basicity caused by the presence of functional groups (amine, dihydroimidazole, carboxylate) on the particle surface were determined using an indicator titration technique. Particles with surface imidazole and amine groups and particles with surface carboxylate groups have enhanced basicity and acidity, respectively. Dihydroimidazole-modified silica had greater surface basicity than the amine-modified silica. The effect on basicity and acidity increases as the amount of added functionalized silane increases. However, this increase is nonlinear with respect to the increase in added functionalized silane. Particles with both surface dihydroimidazole and carboxylate groups demonstrated reduced surface basicity and acidity.     

Theoretical study of CH…O hydrogen bond in proton transfer reaction of glycine

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to study the strength of the CH…O H‐bond in the proton transfer reaction of glycine. Comparison has been made between four proton transfer reactions (ZW1, ZW2, ZW3, SCRFZW) in glycine. The structural parameters of the zwitterionic, transition, and neutral states of glycine are strongly perturbed when the proton transfer takes place. It has been found that the interaction of water molecule at the side chain of glycine is high in the transition state, whereas it is low in the zwitterionic and neutral states. This strongest multiple hydrogen bond interaction in the transition state reduces the barrier for the proton transfer reaction. The natural bond orbital analysis have also been carried out for the ZW2 reaction path, it has been concluded that the amount of charge transfer between the neighboring atoms will decide the strength of H‐bond. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006     

Evaluation of catalyst acidity and substrate electronic effects in a hydrogen bond-catalyzed enantioselective reaction

A modular catalyst structure was applied to evaluate the effects of catalyst acidity in a hydrogen bond-catalyzed hetero Diels-Alder reaction. Linear free energy relationships between catalyst acidity and both rate and enantioselectivity were observed, where greater catalyst acidity leads to increased activity and enantioselectivity. A relationship between reactant electronic nature and rate was also observed, although there is no such correlation to enantioselectivity, indicating the system is under catalyst control.     

Response to high acidity and basicity at a platinum electrode in chronopotentiometry

A simple and rapid method is developed to determine the high acidity and the basicity of solutions by chronopotentiometry with a platinum working electrode. The acidity range from 5.0 mol/l H⁺ to 1.0 mol/l OH⁻ can be measured by the adjustment of deposition potential and time. The response mechanism to acidity and basicity has been explored. The transition potential plateau in chronopotentiograms is caused from the oxidation of hydrogen adsorbed on electrode surface.     

Theoretical studies on the hydrogen atom transfer reaction

The hydrogen atom transfer reaction between substituted methanes (substituents; H, F, CH₃, OH, and CN) and methyl radicals was studied by 4-31G (UHF) calculations using the MINDO/3 geometries. The transition state structures and energy barriers were determined, and variations of the transition state and of the reactivity due to the change of substituent were analyzed based on the potential energy surface characteristics. It was concluded that the reaction is of the S_H2 type with a backside attack, and transition state variations are controlled by the vector sum of the component parallel to (Hammond rule) and one perpendicular to the reaction coordinate (anti-Hammond rule). It was also concluded that the most important factor influencing the reactivity is bond dissociation energy effect directly related to the spin transfer of the radical species, and the polar effect need not be overemphasized.     

Defining the bond energy of a strong hydrogen bond

Based on a recent definition of hydrogen-bond energy the hydrogen bond in [HCOO…H…F]^? is weaker than that in [F…H…F]^?, although the former still ranks as a very strong hydrogen bond.     

Theoretical investigations into the blue-shifting hydrogen bond in benzene complexes.

The benzene...X complexes (X=benzene, antracene, ovalene) were optimised at the MP2/6-31G** level with the C2v symmetry of the complex and planarity of the proton acceptor being preserved. The resulting stabilisation energies amount to 1.2, 2.3 and 2.9 kcal mol(-1), and the C-H bond of the proton donor is contracted by 0.0035, 0.0052 and 0.0055 A, respectively. The contraction is connected with a blue-shift of the C-H stretch vibration frequency. A two-dimensional anharmonic vibration treatment based on a MP2/6-31G** potential energy surface yields the following blue shifts for the complexes studied: 28, 42 and 43 cm(-1). The dominant attraction in the complexes is London dispersion, while the attractive contribution from electrostatic quadrupole-quadrupole interactions is considerably smaller.     

The role of chalcogen-chalcogen interactions in the intrinsic basicity acidity of beta-chalcogenovinyl(thio)aldehydes HC([double bond]X)[bond]CH[double bond]CH[bond]CYH

The intrinsic acidity and basicity of a series of beta-chalcogenovinyl(thio)aldehydes HC([double bond]X)[bond]CH[double bond]CH[bond]CYH (X=O, S; Y=Se, Te) were investigated by B3LYP/6-311+G(3df,2p) density functional and G2(MP2) calculations on geometries optimized at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level for neutral molecules and at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d) level for anions. The results showed that selenovinylaldehyde and selenovinylthioaldehyde should behave as Se bases in the gas phase, because the most stable neutral conformer is stabilized by an X[bond]H...Se (X=O, S) intramolecular hydrogen bond (IHB). In contrast the Te-containing analogues behave as oxygen or sulfur bases, because the most stable conformer is stabilized by typical X...Y[bond]H chalcogen-chalcogen interactions. These compounds have a lower basicity than expected because either chalcogen-chalcogen interactions or IHBs become weaker upon protonation. Similarly, they are also weaker acids than expected because deprotonation results in a significantly destabilized anion. Loss of the proton from the X[bond]H or Y[bond]H groups is a much more favorable than from the C[bond]H groups. Therefore, for Se compounds the deprotonation process results in loss of the X[bond]H...Se (X=O, S) IHBs present in the most stable neutral conformer, while for Te-containing compounds the stabilizing X...Y[bond]H chalcogen-chalcogen interaction present in the most stable neutral conformer becomes repulsive in the corresponding anion.     

Influence of electric field on the hydrogen bond network of water

Understanding the inherent response of water to an external electric (E)-field is useful towards decoupling the role of E-field and surface in several practically encountered situations, such as that near an ion, near a charged surface, or within a biological nanopore. While this problem has been studied in some detail through simulations in the past, it has not been very amenable for theoretical analysis owing to the complexities presented by the hydrogen (H) bond interactions in water. It is also difficult to perform experiments with water in externally imposed, high E-fields owing to dielectric breakdown problems; it is hence all the more important that theoretical progress in this area complements the progress achieved through simulations. In an attempt to fill this lacuna, we develop a theory based on relatively simple concepts of reaction equilibria and Boltzmann distribution. The results are discussed in three parts: one pertaining to a comparison of the key features of the theory vis a vis published simulation/experimental results; second pertaining to insights into the H-bond stoichiometry and molecular orientations at different field strengths and temperatures; and the third relating to a surprising but explainable finding that H-bonds can stabilize molecules whose dipoles are oriented perpendicular to the direction of field (in addition to the E-field and H-bonds both stabilizing molecules with dipoles aligned in the direction of the field).     

Influence of electric field on the hydrogen bond network of methanol

The understanding of the structure of hydrogen (H) bonding liquids in electric (E) fields is important in the context of several areas of research, such as electrochemistry, surface science, and thermodynamics of electrolyte solutions. We had earlier presented a general thermodynamic framework for this purpose, and had shown that the application of E field enhances H-bond interactions among water molecules. The present investigation with methanol suggests a different result-the H-bond structure, as indicated by the average number of H bonds per molecule, goes through a maxima with increasing field strength. This result is explained based on the symmetry in the location of the H-bonding sites in the two types of molecules.     

Theoretical third-order hyperpolarizability of paratellurite from the finite field perturbation method

Density functional theory was used to estimate the third-order hypersusceptibility chi (3) of the alpha-TeO2 paratellurite (as a model structure for TeO2 glass) and the same value for alpha-SiO2 cristobalite (as a model structure for glassy silica). The attempt was made to gain a physical insight into the nature of the extraordinarily high hypersusceptibility of TeO2 glass. A finite field perturbation method implemented in the CRYSTAL code with the "sawtooth" approach was employed. The chi (3) values calculated for alpha-TeO2 were found to be of the same order as that measured for TeO2 glass and much higher than the values computed for alpha-SiO2 which, in turn, were close to that of glassy silica.     

A computational study of gas-phase acidity and basicity of azulene-based uracil analogue

Structural Chemistry - In this paper, we suggest a computational scheme for the theoretical estimation of gas-phase acidity and basicity of azulene-based uracil analogue. The proton affinities...     

On the relative acidity and basicity of the amino groups of the nucleic acid bases

Quantum chemical calculations are reported on the deprotonation and protonation of the amino groups of the nucleic acid bases adenine, guanine and cytosine, in an attempt to compare the relative reactivities of these groups. In the light of renewed interest in the amino groups as reactive sites for certain carcinogenic and carcinostatic agents, we discuss the possible significance of our results for the interpretation of these molecular interactions.