Magnitude of the CH/pi interaction in the gas phase: experimental and theoretical determination of the accurate interaction energy in benzene-methane

The accurate CH/pi interaction energy of the benzene-methane model system was experimentally and theoretically determined. In the experiment, mass analyzed threshold ionization spectroscopy was applied to the benzene-methane cluster in the gas phase, prepared in a supersonic molecular beam. The binding energy in the neutral ground state of the cluster, which is regarded as the CH/pi interaction energy for this model system, was evaluated from the dissociation threshold measurements of the cluster cation. The experimentally determined binding energy (D(0)) was 1.03-1.13 kcal/mol. The interaction energy of the model system was calculated by ab initio molecular orbital methods. The estimated CCSD(T) interaction energy at the basis set limit (D(e)) was -1.43 kcal/mol. The calculated binding energy (D(0)) after the vibrational zero-point energy correction (1.13 kcal/mol) agrees well with the experimental value. The effects of basis set and electron correlation correction procedure on the calculated CH/pi interaction energy were evaluated. Accuracy of the calculated interaction energies by DFT methods using BLYP, B3LYP, PW91 and PBE functionals was also discussed.     

CH/pi interactions in methane clusters with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Geometries and interaction energies for methane clusters with naphthalene and pyrene were studied. Estimated CCSD(T) interaction energies for the clusters at the basis set limit were -1.92 and -2.50 kcal mol(-1), respectively. Dispersion is mainly responsible for the attraction. Electrostatic interaction is very small. Although the benzene-methane cluster prefers a monodentate structure, in which a C-H bond of the methane points toward the benzene, the methane clusters with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons do not prefer monodentate structures. In the benzene-methane cluster, the weak electrostatic interaction stabilizes the monodentate structure. On the other hand the dispersion interaction controls the orientation of methane in the naphthalene and pyrene clusters. The dispersion interactions in these clusters are significantly larger than those in the benzene-methane cluster. The methane prefers the orientation which is suitable for stabilization by dispersion. Hydrogen atoms of the methane locate above the centers of hexagonal rings of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the stable structures. The structures have a small steric repulsion and this positions them only a short distance from the aromatic plane. The large dispersion contribution to the attraction shows that interactions between carbon atoms are mainly responsible for the attraction, and that hydrogen atoms are not important for the attraction. This shows that the interactions between the methane and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are not pi-hydrogen bonds.     

Periodic ab initio approach for the cooperative effect of CH/pi interaction in crystals: relative energy of CH/pi and hydrogen-bonding interactions

The bonding property of the CH/pi interaction in organic crystals has been investigated by the means of a periodic ab initio method. The energy of the CH(sp(2))/pi interaction in crystals, estimated with periodic RHF/6-21G*, showed a reasonable attractive CH(sp(2))/pi interaction owing to a cooperative effect, whereas the results calculated with RHF/cc-pVDZ indicate a negligibly small or repulsive interaction. The relative contribution of the CH(sp(2))/pi interaction to the column packing energy was found to be roughly half of the energy of a conventional hydrogen bond. The calculation of the charge distributions on the aromatic rings participating in the CH(sp(2))/pi interaction in crystals revealed that the atoms were more ionic than those in the gas phase. These theoretical calculations suggest a hydrogen-bonding characteristic for the CH(sp(2))/pi interaction in crystals, which does not occur in solution nor gas phase. We present computational evidence of the existence of the cooperative effect of CH(sp(2))/pi interaction in crystals.     

Magnitude and directionality of the interaction energy of the aliphatic CH/pi interaction: significant difference from hydrogen bond

The CCSD(T) level interaction energies of CH/pi complexes at the basis set limit were estimated. The estimated interaction energies of the benzene complexes with CH(4), CH(3)CH(3), CH(2)CH(2), CHCH, CH(3)NH(2), CH(3)OH, CH(3)OCH(3), CH(3)F, CH(3)Cl, CH(3)ClNH(2), CH(3)ClOH, CH(2)Cl(2), CH(2)FCl, CH(2)F(2), CHCl(3), and CH(3)F(3) are -1.45, -1.82, -2.06, -2.83, -1.94, -1.98, -2.06, -2.31, -2.99, -3.57, -3.71, -4.54, -3.88, -3.22, -5.64, and -4.18 kcal/mol, respectively. Dispersion is the major source of attraction, even if substituents are attached to the carbon atom of the C-H bond. The dispersion interaction between benzene and chlorine atoms, which is not the CH/pi interaction, is the cause of the very large interaction energy of the CHCl(3) complex. Activated CH/pi interaction (acetylene and substituted methanes with two or three electron-withdrawing groups) is not very weak. The nature of the activated CH/pi interaction may be similar to the hydrogen bond. On the other hand, the nature of other typical (nonactivated) CH/pi interactions is completely different from that of the hydrogen bond. The typical CH/pi interaction is significantly weaker than the hydrogen bond. Dispersion interaction is mainly responsible for the attraction in the CH/pi interaction, whereas electrostatic interaction is the major source of attraction in the hydrogen bond. The orientation dependence of the interaction energy of the typical CH/pi interaction energy is very small, whereas the hydrogen bond has strong directionality. The weak directionality suggests that the hydrogen atom of the interacting C-H bond is not essential for the attraction and that the typical CH/pi interaction does not play critical roles in determining the molecular orientation in molecular assemblies.     

Magnitude and nature of carbohydrate-aromatic interactions in fucose-phenol and fucose-indole complexes: CCSD(T) level interaction energy calculations

The CH/π contact structures of the fucose-phenol and fucose-indole complexes and the stabilization energies by formation of the complexes (E(form)) were studied by ab initio molecular orbital calculations. The three types of interactions (CH/π and OH/π interactions and OH/O hydrogen bonds) were compared and evaluated in a single molecular system and at the same level of theory. The E(form) calculated for the most stable CH/π contact structure of the fucose-phenol complex at the CCSD(T) level (-4.9 kcal/mol) is close to that for the most stable CH/π contact structure of the fucose-benzene complex (-4.5 kcal/mol). On the other hand the most stable CH/π contact structure of the fucose-indole complex has substantially larger E(form) (-6.5 kcal/mol). The dispersion interaction is the major source of the attraction in the CH/π contact structures of the fucose-phenol and fucose-indole complexes as in the case of the fucose-benzene complex. The electrostatic interactions in the CH/π contact structures are small (less than 1.5 kcal/mol). The nature of the interactions between the nonpolar surface of the carbohydrate and aromatic rings is completely different from that of the conventional hydrogen bonds where the electrostatic interaction is the major source of the attraction. The distributed multipole analysis and DFT-SATP analysis show that the dispersion interactions in the CH/π contact structure of fucose-indole complex are substantially larger than those in the CH/π contact structures of fucose-benzene and fucose-phenol complexes. The large dispersion interactions are responsible for the large E(form) for the fucose-indole complex.     

Crystal engineering for topochemical polymerization of muconic esters using halogen-halogen and CH/pi interactions as weak intermolecular interactions

We now report the molecular and crystal structure design of muconic ester derivatives on the basis of crystal engineering using halogen-halogen contacts and CH/pi interactions. The solid-state photoreaction pathway of the dibenzyl (Z,Z)-muconates as the 1,3-diene dicarboxylic acid monomers depends on the structure of the ester groups. The substitution of a halogen atom for the aromatic hydrogen of a benzyl group induces topochemical polymerization to produce stereoregular polymers in a crystalline form, whereas the unsubstituted benzyl derivative isomerizes to yield the corresponding E,E isomer under similar conditions. The topochemical polymerization process is directly confirmed by the fact that the single-crystal structures before and after the polymerization are very similar to each other. From the crystal structure analysis for a series of substituted benzyl (Z,Z)- and (E,E)-muconates, it has been revealed that the planar diene moieties are closely packed to form a columnar structure in the crystals. The stacking of the polymerizable monomers is characterized by a stacking distance of 4.9-5.2 A along the columns. This structure is supported by a halogen-halogen interaction between the chlorine or bromine atoms introduced at the p position of the benzyl groups in addition to an aromatic stacking due to the CH/pi interaction between the benzylic methylene hydrogens and aromatic rings. The design of a monomer packing corresponds to the type and position of the introduced halogen atom and also the polymorphs. To make a stacking distance of 5 A using both halogen-halogen and CH/pi interactions as supramolecular synthons is important for the molecular design of muconic ester derivatives appropriate for topochemical polymerization.     

Experimental and theoretical determination of the accurate interaction energies in benzene-halomethane: the unique nature of the activated CH/pi interaction of haloalkanes

The CH/pi interaction energies between benzene and halomethanes (CH(2)Cl(2) and CHCl(3)) were accurately determined. Two-color ionization spectroscopy was applied to the benzene-CH(2)Cl(2) and -CHCl(3) clusters, and the binding energies in the neutral ground state, i.e. the CH/pi interaction energies in these model cluster systems, were precisely evaluated on the basis of the dissociation threshold measurements of the clusters in the cationic state and the ionization potential value of the bare molecule. The experimentally determined interaction energies were 3.8 +/- 0.2 and 5.2 +/- 0.2 kcal mol(-1) for benzene-CH(2)Cl(2) and -CHCl(3) respectively, and the remarkable enhancement of the CH/pi interaction energy with chlorine-substitution was quantitatively confirmed. The experimental interaction energies were well reproduced by the high-level ab initio calculations. The theoretical calculations clarified the unique nature of the activation of the CH/pi interaction by the chlorine-substitution.     

Study of the interaction in clusters formed by phenol and CH3X (X=CN,F,Cl) molecules

The characteristics of the interaction between phenol and acetonitrile, methyl fluoride and methyl chloride were studied. The most stable structures for clusters containing one or two CH3X molecules and one phenol moiety were located by means of ab initio and density functional theory calculations. Phenol-acetonitrile dimer presents two almost equally stable structures; one of them is a typical linearly hydrogen bonded minimum, whereas in the other one, a C-H...pi contact is established accompanied by a distorted O-H...N hydrogen bond. Although the latter minimum presents the larger interaction energy, deformation effects favor the formation of the linear hydrogen bonded one. In complexes with methyl fluoride and methyl chloride, this arrangement is the most stable structure and no linear hydrogen bonded structures were located. Our best estimates for the interaction energies amount to -27.8, -21.6, and -19.7 kJ/mol for clusters of phenol with acetonitrile, methyl fluoride, and methyl chloride, respectively. The main contribution to the stabilization of these clusters is of electrostatic nature, although in structures where a C-H...pi contact is present, the dispersion contribution is also significant. In clusters formed by phenol and two CH3X units, the most stable arrangement corresponds to a head to tail disposal with O-H...X, C-H...X, and C-H...pi contacts forming a cycle. Only for this type of arrangement, three body effects are non-negligible even though they constitute a minor effect. The results also indicate that interactions with methyl fluoride and methyl chloride are of similar intensity, although weaker than with acetonitrile. Significant frequency shifts are predicted for the O-H stretching, which increase when increasing the number of CH3X molecules.     

Prevalence of the alkyl/phenyl-folded conformation in benzylic compounds C6H5CH2-X-R (X=O,CH2, CO,S, SO,SO2): significance of the CH/pi interaction as evidenced by high-level ab initio MO calculations

Ab initio MO calculations were carried out to examine the conformational energies of various benzylic compounds C(6)H(5)CH(2)XR (X=O, CH(2), CO, S, SO, SO(2); R=CH(3), C(2)H(5), iC(3)H(7), tC(4)H(9)) at the MP2/6-311G(d,p)//MP2/6-31G(d) level. Rotamers with R/Ph in gauche relationship are generally more stable than the R/Ph anti rotamers. In these stable geometries, the interatomic distance in the interaction of alpha- or beta-CH in the alkyl group and the ipso-carbon atom of the phenyl ring is short. The computational results are consistent with experimental data from supersonic molecular jet spectroscopy on 3-n-propyltoluene and NMR and crystallographic data on structurally related ketones, sulfoxides, and sulfones. In view of this, the alkyl/phenyl-congested conformation of these compounds has been suggested to be a general phenomenon, rather than an exception. The attractive CH/pi interaction has been suggested to be a dominant factor in determining the conformation of simple aralkyl compounds.     

A computational study on pi and sigma modes of metal ion binding to heteroaromatics (CH)(5-m)X(m) and (CH)(6-m)X(m) (X = N and P): contrasting preferences between nitrogen- and phosphorous-substituted rings

The pi and sigma complexation energy of various heteroaromatic systems which include mono-, di-, and trisubstituted azoles, phospholes, azines and phosphinines with various metal ions, viz. Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+), was calculated at the post Hartree-Fock MP2 level, MP2(FULL)/6-311+G(2d,2p)//MP2/6-31G. The azoles and azines were found to form stronger sigma complexes than the corresponding pi complexes, whereas the phospholes and phosphinines had higher pi complexation energy with Li(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+) while their pi and sigma complexation energies were very comparable with Na(+) and K(+). The strongest pi complex among the five-membered heteroaromatic system was that of pyrrole with all the metals except with Mg(2+), while benzene formed the strongest pi complex among the six-membered heterocyclic systems. The nitrogen heterocyclic system 4H-[1,2,4] triazole and pyridazine formed the strongest sigma complex among the five- and six-membered heteroaromatic systems considered. The complexation energy of the pi and sigma complexes of the azoles and azines was found to decrease with the increase in the heteroatom substitution in the ring, while that of phospholes and phosphinines did not vary significantly. The azoles and azines preferred to form sigma complexes wherein the metal had bidentate linkage, while the phospholes and phosphinines did not show binding mode preference. In the sigma complexes of both azoles and phospholes, the metal binds away form the electron-deficient nitrogen or phosphorus center.     

Reaction mechanism of HSH and CH3SH with NH2CH2COCH2X (X = F and Cl) molecules

The reaction mechanism of model compounds H₂S and CH₃SH for cysteine proteases with NH₂CH₂COCH₂X (X = F and Cl) molecules has been investigated using DFT methods with B3LYP and B3PW91 hybrid density functionals at 6‐31+G* basis sets. The single point energy has been calculated for the above reactions with B3LYP and B3PW91 functionals using aug‐cc‐PVDZ infinite basis set in both gas and solution phases. The intrinsic reaction coordinates calculations have been performed to confirm that each transition state is linked by the desired reactants and products. The geometries and relative energies for various stationary points have been determined and discussed. The zero point vibrational energy corrections have been made to predict the reliable energy. The negative value of reaction energy indicates that the overall reaction profile is found to be exothermic. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2008     

The interaction between C28 (Td) and X (X=H and F)

Hydrogen and fluorine addition reactions with C₂₈(T_d) have been investigated by the density function theory method at B3LYP/6-31G level. The interaction potential between C₂₈(T_d) and atom X (X=H and F) shows that there are three possible stable isomers of C₂₈(T_d)X (X=H and F) and the average binding energy calculations suggest that C₂₈(T_d)H₄ is the most stable hydrogen adduct among C₂₈(T_d)H_n (n=1–28). Furthermore, by comparisons of the energy between C₂₈(T_d)H and C₂₈(C_s)H we found that the former are more stable than the later, and the structural and energy analysis further indicate that C₂₈(C_s)H is only with a small distortion of C₂₈(T_d)H symmetry. In addition, the transition states, as well as reaction pathways of X transfer reactions between different key points on C₂₈(T_d) representative patch are given to explore the possible reaction mechanism.     

Kinetic limit of the ethane and ethylene yield in the gas phase condensation of methane

A kinetic simulation of the initiated oxidative condensation of methane in the gas phase showed that the additional generation of methyl radicalsvia the reaction CH₄ + O₂ CH₃ + HO₂ causes a nearly tenfold increase in the C₂ hydrocarbon yield. However, a kinetic limit of the yield exists that is close to that determined in experiments on the catalytic oxidative condensation of methane.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 380–382, February, 1995.     

NH/pi interaction in a spin-crossover complex [FeII(HLMe)2](BPh4)2.2CH3CN (BPh4-=Tetraphenylborate; HLMe=2-Methylimidazol-4-yl-methylideneamino-2-ethylpyridine)

Three FeII complexes, [Fe(HLR)2](BPh4)2.solvent (R=H, Me, Ph), were synthesized, where BPh4-=tetraphenylborate and HLR=2-substituted-imidazol-4-yl-methylideneamino-2-ethylpyridine. The magnetic susceptibility measurements in 5-300 K revealed that [Fe(HLH)2](BPh4)2.H2O, [Fe(HLMe)2](BPh4)2.2CH3CN, and [Fe(HLPh)2](BPh4)2.CH3CN are low-spin (LS), spin-crossover (SC), and high-spin (HS) FeII complexes, respectively, indicating that the spin state can be effectively tuned by the bulkiness of the substituent. Complex shows a steep SC around 250 K, where it assumes a cyclic structure of {[Fe(HLMe)2]BPh4}2 constructed by four NH/pi bonds between the imidazole group and the phenyl ring of BPh4- in the HS state and a deformed structure with NH/pi bonds and linear CH3CN...HN hydrogen bonds at the terminals in the LS state.     

Quantum chemical study of the interaction of the short-chain poly(oxyethylene)s CH3(OCH2CH2)mOCH3 (C1EmC1; m = 1 and 2) with a water molecule in the gas phase and in solutions

It is well-known that the role of the oxygen atom of the hydrophilic unit of poly(oxyethylene) (POE) is one of the important factors of the high solubility of POE in water. In the present study, we focused on the hydration of the oxyethylene OCH2CH2O unit of POE, CH3(OCH2CH2)mOCH3 (C1EmC1), and theoretically examined the role of the water molecule on the stability of POE using the short-chain POE, 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME) CH3(OCH2CH2)OCH3 (C1E1C1) and diglyme CH3(OCH2CH2)2OCH3 (C1E2C1). The relative energies of the important conformers of the model POE with and without a water molecule in the gas phase and the solvent have been calculated by the second-order M?ller-Plesset perturbation (MP2) method using the 6-311G basis set. We found three types of H-bonding of a water molecule with the POE chain for the TTT and the TGT conformers of C1E1C1 and for the TTTTTT, the TGTTGT, and the TGTTG'T conformers of C1E2C1, which are classified into the monodentate and the bidentate H-bonding. The conformers including the gauche form of the OCH2CH2O unit without the intramolecular electrostatic interaction are less stable in energy than the trans conformers in the gas phase for both C1E1C1 and C1E2C1. However, this order in the stability is reversed by the hydration. It is also found that the H-bond between POE and a water molecule is strengthened in the solvent. The stability of the conformers of POE in the gas phase and in the solvent is discussed in detail.     

Geminal interactions in ClZ(CH3)2X molecules (Z = C, Si, Ge) according to ab initio calculations

The structure and electronic parameters of ClZ(CH₃)₂X molecules (Z = C, Si, Ge, X = CH₃, OCH₃) were calculated by the RHF/6–31G(d) and RHF/6–311G(d,p) methods with full geometry optimization; calculations of ClZ(CH₃)₂OCH₃ molecules were also performed by the RHF/6–31G(d) method with partial geometry optimization. The ³⁵Cl NQR frequencies calculated from the populations of less diffuse 3p constituents of valence p orbitals of chlorine [RHF/6–31G(d)] were in agreement with the experimental values. The ³⁵Cl NQR frequencies for molecules with X = OCH₃ are lower than those for molecules with X = CH₃ (the Z atom being the same), due mainly to direct through-field polarization of the Z-Cl bond, induced by the effect of unshared electron pair of the oxygen atom in the trans position with respect to that bond. The difference in the ³⁵Cl NQR frequencies decreases in going from Z = C to Z = Si, Ge, in parallel with variation of the Z-Cl bond polarization as the size of Z increases.     

Near-thermal reactions of Au(+)(1S,3D) with CH3X (X = F,Cl)

Reactions of Au(+)((1)S) and Au(+)((3)D) with CH(3)F and CH(3)Cl have been carried out in a drift cell in He at a pressure of 3.5 Torr at both room temperature and reduced temperatures in order to explore the influence of the electronic state of the metal on reaction outcomes. State-specific product channels and overall two-body rate constants were identified using electronic state chromatography. These results indicate that Au(+)((1)S) reacts to yield an association product in addition to AuCH(2)(+) in parallel steps with both neutrals. Product distributions for association vs HX elimination were determined to be 79% association/21% HX elimination for X = F and 50% association/50% HX elimination when X = Cl. Reaction of Au(+)((3)D) with CH(3)F also results in HF elimination, which in this case is thought to produce (3)AuCH(2)(+). With CH(3)Cl, Au(+)((3)D) reacts to form AuCH(3)(+) and CH(3)Cl(+) in parallel steps. An additional product channel initiated by Au(+)((3)D) is also observed with both methyl halides, which yields CH(2)X(+) as a higher-order product. Kinetic measurements indicate that the reaction efficiency for both Au(+) states is significantly greater with CH(3)Cl than with CH(3)F. The observed two-body rate constant for depletion of Au(+)((1)S) by CH(3)F represents less than 5% of the limiting rate constant predicted by the average dipole orientation model (ADO) at room temperature and 226 K, whereas CH(3)Cl reacts with Au(+)((1)S) at the ADO limit at both room temperature and 218 K. Rate constants for depletion of Au(+)((3)D) by CH(3)F and CH(3)Cl were measured at 226 and 218 K respectively, and indicate that Au(+)((3)D) is consumed at approximately 2% of the ADO limit by CH(3)F and 69% of the ADO limit by CH(3)Cl. Product formation and overall efficiency for all four reactions are consistent with previous experimental results and available theoretical models.     

N,N-coordinated pi radical anions of S-methyl-1-phenyl-isothiosemicarbazide in two five-coordinate ferric complexes [Fe III(L Me*)(2)X] (X = CH3S-, Cl-)

The reaction between [Fe(III)(dmf)(6)](ClO(4))(3) and the ligand S-methyl-1-phenyl-isothiosemicarbazide, H(2)[L(Me)], and triethylamine (1:3:6) in methanol under an argon blanketing atmosphere at elevated temperatures (reflux) yields a purple solution from which upon cooling to 20 degrees C dark green crystals of [Fe(III)(L(Me)(*))(2)(SCH(3))] (1) were obtained in 15% yield. From a similar reaction mixture using FeCl(3) as starting material in the solvent acetone under anaerobic conditions at -80 degrees C, dark green crystals of [Fe(III)(L(Me)(*))(2)Cl] (2) were obtained in 21% yield. The structures of complexes 1 and 2 have been determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography at 100 K. Both complexes are five-coordinate square base pyramidal ferric species containing two N,N-coordinated, monoanionic pi radicals, (L(Me)(*))(1)(-), of the parent S-methyl-1-phenyl-isothiosemicarbazide(2-) dianion in the basal positions whereas the axial position is occupied by methylthiolate in 1 and chloride in 2, respectively. The electronic structure of both species has been elucidated by their electronic spectra, magnetic properties, and X-band EPR and M?ssbauer spectra. Both possess an S(t) = (1)/(2) ground state which is attained via an antiferromagnetic coupling between the spins of an intermediate spin ferric ion (S(Fe) = (3)/(2)) and two ligand pi radical anions (S(rad) = (1)/(2)).