Polymorphism and intermolecular interactions in crystalline fluorinated alkylbenzoic acids

Thermodynamic and spectral characteristics of fluorinated derivatives of alkylbenzoic acids (FABA) were studied in the temperature range 100–550 K. Experimental values of temperatures, enthalpies and entropies of phase transitions, as well as hydrogen bond energy at different temperatures and in the various physical (phase) states were compared to those for alkyl- and fluoroalkyl-benzoic acids. IR absorption spectra of substances studied were interpreted on the basis of theoretical calculations of frequencies, shapes and intensities of normal modes of molecular vibrations using the published data for related compounds. The information derived was used to construct models of packing of dimerized molecules of FABA in the crystalline state, and possible causes of the absence of mesomorphism on complete fluorination of alkyl radical were discussed.     

X-ray and quantum-topological studies of intermolecular interactions in partially fluorinated quinoline crystals

An X-ray study of the crystals of bicyclic compounds containing fluorinated aromatic and nonfluorinated heteroaromatic rings, 5,6,7,8-tetrafluoroquinoline, 5,6,8-trifluoroquinoline, 5,7-difluoroquinoline, 5,7,8-trifluoro-2-phenylquinoline, and 5,7,8-trifluoro-6-trifluoromethylquinoline, was carried out. The basic supramolecular motifs and the underlying intermolecular interactions that control the lattice structure of these compounds were investigated. B3LYP DFT quantum-chemical calculations (6-311G(d,p) basis set) and the topological analysis of the electron density distribution in terms of Bader’s QTAIM theory were performed for the compounds. It is shown that the intermolecular interactions in question, traditionally regarded as nonvalent interactions, are related, to a definite extent, to the formation of very weak covalent chemical bonds in the intermolecular space due to the overlap of the “tails” of the molecular wave functions.     

Self-assembled thermoreversible gels of nonpolar liquids by racemic propargylic alcohols with fluorinated and nonfluorinated aromatic rings

The synthesis and colloidal study of a new class of low molecular weight organogelators is reported. Racemic propargylic alcohols with perfluoroaryl and nonfluorinated aryl rings are capable of forming gels in alkane liquids and/or silicone oil. A full colloidal characterization of alkane gels prepared from (R/S)-1-pentafluorophenyl-3-phenylprop-2-yn-1-ol [(R/S)- 1] was conducted, including both structural [optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR)] and thermal stability [differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)] studies. A model of the organization of gelator molecules within gel fibers has been proposed primarily based on the correlation of diffraction data for the powder XRD pattern of a gel and a simulated powder pattern from a sublimed crystal of the gelator. Furthermore, structural requirements for propargylic alcohol gelators were investigated by subjecting derivatives with modified structures to gelation tests. An enantiomerically enriched sample [(R)- 1, 83% ee] fails to entrap the solvent under conditions where the racemate successfully forms a gel. The remaining racemic derivatives (with p-alkoxy or p-alkyl substituents on the nonfluorinated arene) form gels or partial gels in silicone oil and in some alkane preparations.     

超高压液相色谱法分析12种氟苯甲酸示踪剂

建立了超高压液相色谱法测定12种新型水文示踪剂氟苯甲酸的分析方法。使用非极性固相萃取柱(200 mg,ENV+,6 mL)富集,Acquity BEH C18(50×2.1 mm.id.,1.7μm)超高压液相色谱柱、乙腈∶水(体积分数0.004%甲酸,pH 3.48)流动相、二极管阵列检测器,检测波长214 nm。方法相对标准偏差1.2%~4.2%,线性范围2.2~72.0μg/L(RSD:0.40%~1.6%)。平均回收率87.5%~111.6%之间(RSD 0.61%~9.8%.)。     

Substituent effects on non-covalent interactions with aromatic rings: insights from computational chemistry

Non-covalent interactions with aromatic rings pervade modern chemical research. The strength and orientation of these interactions can be tuned and controlled through substituent effects. Computational studies of model complexes have provided a detailed understanding of the origin and nature of these substituent effects, and pinpointed flaws in entrenched models of these interactions in the literature. Here, we provide a brief review of efforts over the last decade to unravel the origin of substituent effects in π-stacking, XH/π, and ion/π interactions through detailed computational studies. We highlight recent progress that has been made, while also uncovering areas where future studies are warranted.     

Orthogonal contacts between benzene rings: A special type of specific intermolecular interactions

The crystal structures of benzene and some of its derivatives are analyzed in detail. The structures are characterized by orthogonal contacts between the benzene cycles (OBzC). Although the orthogonal contacts conflict with the close packig law, they are an important structure-forming factor, being thus a specific type of intermolecular interactions. The OBzC system, which is inherent in the orthorhombic crystals of benzene, remains invariable in 2-aminophenol and 2-amino-4-chlorophenol crystals, notwithstanding other specific interactions (H-bonding and halogen...halogen contacts). OBzC are also observed in para- and ortho-cresol crystals. A classification of OBzC is given, and an especially effective projection method (rectangular projection) is suggested. M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 36, No. 5, pp. 775–789, September–October, 1995. Translated by L. Smolina     

Ab initio study of substituent effects in the interactions of dimethyl ether with aromatic rings

Ab initio calculations have been used to investigate the interaction energies of dimers of dimethyl ether with benzene, hexafluorobenzene, and several monosubstituted benzenes. The potential energy curves were explored at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level for two basic configurations of the dimers, one in which the oxygen atom of the dimethyl ether was pointed towards the aromatic ring and the other in which the oxygen atom was pointed away from the aromatic ring. Once the optimum intermolecular distances between the dimethyl and the aromatic ring had been determined for each of the dimers in both configurations at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level, single point energy calculations were performed at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. A CCSD(T) correction term to the energy was determined and this was combined with the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ energies to estimate the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ interaction energies of the dimers. The estimated CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ interaction energies are predicted to be attractive for all of the dimers in both configurations and dispersion interactions are found to be a large component of the stabilization of the dimers. For the dimers with the dimethyl ether oxygen pointing towards the aromatic ring, the strengths of interaction energies are found to increase as the aromatic ring becomes more electron deficient, while for the dimers with the dimethyl ether oxygen pointing away from the aromatic ring, they increase as the aromatic ring becomes more electron rich. In both cases, the trends can be explained in terms of the electrostatic potentials of the dimethyl ether and the aromatic rings.     

Quantitative study of interactions between oxygen lone pair and aromatic rings: substituent effect and the importance of closeness of contact

Current models describe aromatic rings as polar groups based on the fact that benzene and hexafluorobenzene are known to have large and permanent quadrupole moments. This report describes a quantitative study of the interactions between oxygen lone pair and aromatic rings. We found that even electron-rich aromatic rings and oxygen lone pairs exhibit attractive interactions. Free energies of interactions are determined using the triptycene scaffold and the equilibrium constants were determined by low-temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy. An X-ray structure analysis for one of the model compounds confirms the close proximity between the oxygen and the center of the aromatic ring. Theoretical calculations at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level corroborate the experimental results. The origin of attractive interactions was explored by using aromatic rings with a wide range of substituents. The interactions between an oxygen lone pair and an aromatic ring are attractive at van der Waals' distance even with electron-donating substituents. Electron-withdrawing groups increase the strength of the attractive interactions. The results from this study can be only partly rationalized by using the current models of aromatic system. Electrostatic-based models are consistent with the fact that stronger electron-withdrawing groups lead to stronger attractions, but fail to predict or rationalize the fact that weak attractions even exist between electron-rich arenes and oxygen lone pairs. The conclusion from this study is that aromatic rings cannot be treated as a simple quadrupolar functional group at van der Waals' distance. Dispersion forces and local dipole should also be considered.     

Improvement of selectivity of electrochemical detection for the determination of compounds with chloro aromatic rings

Summary Pharmaceuticals containing a thiazide ring or chlorinated aromatic ring were investigated with respect to enhanced selectivity in determination. Oxidative electrochemical detection coupled with HPLC was used to study the influence of the pH of the mobile phase under conditions of photolysis. To cover a pH range 3.9–12, the employment of a polymer column stable in alkaline media was necessary. The method offers the great advantage of derivatization without chemicals at low operating potentials, thereby providing high selectivity.     

Gels from a semifluorinated n-alkane in fluorinated solvents as a probe for intermolecular interactions

Diblock semifluorinated n-alkanes can form aggregates and gels in fluorinated solvents. We have investigated the thermal behavior of binary mixtures comprising F(CF₂)₈(CH₂)₁₆H and fluorinated solvents. The solvents were perfluorohexane, perfluoroheptane, perfluorooctane, perfluorooctyl bromide, perfluorodecalin, and perfluorotributylamine. The phase diagrams were used to calculate the activity coefficients of the two components and the main excess thermodynamic functions. The solubility and self-assembly behavior of F₈H₁₆ in the fluorinated solvents are related to the different solute–solvent dispersion interactions that depend on the polarizabilities and ionization potentials of the interacting species, and on the structural properties of the solvent.     

Heterogeneous intermolecular hydroamination of terminal alkynes with aromatic amines

Heterogeneous intermolecular hydroamination of alkynes with aromatic amines using inexpensive transition metal-exchanged clay catalysts was investigated. Reaction of terminal alkynes with aromatic amines gave higher yields of imines.     

Regioselectivity in intermolecular Pauson-Khand reactions of dissymmetric fluorinated alkynes

Stoichiometric and catalytic intermolecular Pauson-Khand reactions (PKRs) of dissymmetric fluorinated alkynes were performed, affording regioselectively α-fluorinated cyclopentenones. Ethyl 4,4,4-trifluorobutynoate was an excellent substrate; its reaction with norbornadiene gave the corresponding PKR adduct in good yield and complete regioselectivity. Conjugate addition of nitroalkanes or cyanide to this adduct is stereospecific and entails concomitant loss of a trifluoromethyl group. This reaction can be exploited to prepare cyclopentenones featuring quaternary centers.     

A preference for edgewise interactions between aromatic rings and carboxylate anions: the biological relevance of anion-quadrupole interactions

Noncovalent interactions are quite important in biological structure-function relationships. To study the pairwise interaction of aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan) with anionic amino acids (aspartic and glutamic acids), small molecule mimics (benzene, phenol or indole interacting with formate) were used at the MP2 level of theory. The overall energy associated with an anion-quadrupole interaction is substantial (-9.5 kcal/mol for a benzene-formate planar dimer at van der Waals contact distance), indicating the electropositive ring edge of an aromatic group can interact with an anion. Deconvolution of the long-range coplanar interaction energy into fractional contributions from charge-quadrupole interactions, higher-order electrostatic interactions, and polarization terms was achieved. The charge-quadrupole term contributes between 30 to 45% of the total MP2 benzene-formate interaction; most of the rest of the interaction arises from polarization contributions. Additional studies of the Protein Data Bank (PDB Select) show that nearly planar aromatic-anionic amino acid pairs occur more often than expected from a random angular distribution, while axial aromatic-anionic pairs occur less often than expected; this demonstrates the biological relevance of the anion-quadrupole interaction. While water may mitigate the strength of these interactions, they may be numerous in a typical protein structure, so their cumulative effect could be substantial.     

Non-fused polyaromatic hydrocarbons: interactions of aromatic and antiaromatic rings through a CC bond

The interaction of the moieties of benzene, cyclobutadiene, cyclopentadinyl anion, and the cyclopentadianide cation upon each other and upon a CC bond connecting pairs of these rings is investigated computationally. The resulting non-fused bicycles include biphenyl, phenylcyclobutadiene, phenylcyclopentadienylium, phenylcyclopentadienide, pentafulvalene, cyclobutadienyl–cyclopentadienylium, cyclobutadienyl–cyclopentadienide, and bicyclobutadiene. The relative stability and aromaticity are assessed from hydrogenation energies, aromatic stabilization energies, ring separation energies, nucleus-independent chemical-shift, harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity, and natural bond orbital analysis. Calculations are performed with density functional theory (B3LYP) and Møller–Plesset perturbation theory of second order (MP2). Enthalpy quantities are also determined by G3. When both rings are aromatic in character, the bridging bond is mostly σ in character. When one or both of the rings is antiaromatic, the bridging bond has significant π character. Systems with contrasting aromaticities have CC bridging bonds of lengths between CC single bond lengths and CC double bond lengths and where the systems were charged, the charge is evenly distributed between the rings.     

Towards quantitative analysis of intermolecular interactions with Hirshfeld surfaces

Enhancements to the properties based on Hirshfeld surfaces enable quantitative comparisons between contributions to crystal packing from various types of intermolecular contacts.     

The intermolecular interactions in binaries

The recapitulation of systematical investigations of excess enthalpy of mixing in binary mixtures: pyridine base +n-alkane or some of arenes is presented. On the base of experimental results as well as model calculations (PFP, ERAS) the discussion of intermolecular interactions in pyridine bases is given.