Density functional evaluation and a feasibility study of intramolecular thione–thiol tautomerization

Performance of various density functionals for use in geometry and energetics calculation of thiocarbonyl systems is evaluated. The three biologically significant systems such as 2‐methyl‐3‐thiosemicarbazide, 1‐acetyl‐2‐thiohydantoin and bornane‐2‐thione are selected for the geometry analysis. Energy of tautomerization of thioacetone and enthalpy of formation of 2‐thiohydantoin are considered for analyzing the performance in energetics. Minnesota functionals such as M05‐2X, M06‐2X and range separated hybrid functional wB97 give best results in both geometry and energetics calculations. Studies on basis set effect showed reliable performance by 6‐31 + G* and 6‐31++G** over higher basis sets. Feasibility of tautomerization in the aforementioned thiones has been investigated using the best performing density functionals. The proposed thione–thiol tautomerization step during PPC‐DC catalyzed decarboxylation reaction has also been investigated and the computed high energy barrier shows less feasibility of the reaction.