Red- and blue-shifted hydrogen bonds: the Bent rule from quantum theory of atoms in molecules perspective

MP2/6-311++G(3pd,3df) calculations were performed on complexes of acetylene and fluoroform acting as the proton donating systems and different Lewis bases being the proton acceptors since these complexes are linked through C-H···Y hydrogen bonds. Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) is applied to explain the nature of these interactions. The characteristics of bond critical points are presented for these complexes. The inter-relations between energetic and geometrical parameters as well as the parameters derived from the Natural Bond Orbital (NBO) theory are analyzed here. Red- and blue-shifted hydrogen bonds are detected for the complexes investigated and the differences between those interactions are analyzed from the QTAIM perspective. It is shown that such differences are in agreement with the Bent rule. The position of the bond critical point of the proton donating bond is connected with the nature of hydrogen bonding, that is, if it is blue- or red-shifted.