Density Functional Theory Study of the Hydrogen Bond Interaction between Lactones, Lactams, and Methanol

The structure and relative stability of methanol complexes with various cyclic ketones, lactones, lactams, and N-methyl lactams from three- to seven-membered rings have been investigated using the density functional theory method. The geometries, harmonic frequencies, and energies were calculated at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level. Three stable structures, cis-a, cis-b, and trans, with respect to the ring oxygen (nitrogen) atom, were found to be local minima of the potential energy surface. For lactones and N-methyl lactams, the most stable structure is trans; it is stabilized, as in cyclic ketones, through the conventional hydrogen bond (HB) interaction between the basic carbonyl oxygen and the acidic methanolic hydrogen and an unconventional HB interaction between the methanolic oxygen and the CH hydrogen, in the alpha position of the carbonyl group. For unsubstituted lactams, the cis-a structure, stabilized through a HB interaction between the NH group and the methanol oxygen in addition to the conventional HB interaction, is the most stable. The topological properties of the electron density ratify the existence of conventional (N,O-H. . .O) and unconventional (C-H. . .O) hydrogen bonding. A good correlation was found between the HB distances and the electron density at the HB critical point. The unsubstituted lactams yield more stable complexes with methanol than N-methyl lactams, lactones, and cyclic ketones. In the most stable complexes, both components behave simultaneously as a HB donor and as a HB acceptor.

Ab Initio Study of the Complexes of Halogen-Containing Molecules RX (X=Cl, Br, and I) and NH3: Towards Understanding the Nature of Halogen Bonding and the Electron-Accepting Propensities of Covalently Bonded Halogen Atoms

Ab initio calculations have been performed on a series of complexes formed between halogen-containing molecules and ammonia to gain a deeper insight into the nature of halogen bonding. It appears that the dihalogen molecules form the strongest halogen-bonded complexes with ammonia, followed by HOX; the charge-transfer-type contribution has been demonstrated to dominate the halogen bonding in these complexes. For the complexes involving carbon-bound halogen molecules, our calculations clearly indicate that electrostatic interactions are mainly responsible for their binding energies. Whereas the halogen-bond strength is significantly enhanced by progressive fluorine substitution, the substitution of a hydrogen atom by a methyl group in the CH(3)X...NH(3) complex weakened the halogen bonding. Moreover, remote substituent effects have also been noted in the complexes of halobenzenes with different para substituents. The influence of the hybridization state of the carbon atom bonded to the halogen atom has also been examined and the results reveal that halogen-bond strengths decrease in the order HC triple bond CX > H(2)C=CHX approximately O=CHX approximately C(6)H(5)X > CH(3)X. In addition, several excellent linear correlations have been established between the interaction energies and both the amount of charge transfer and the electrostatic potentials corresponding to an electron density of 0.002 au along the R-X axis; these correlations provide good models with which to evaluate the electron-accepting abilities of the covalently bonded halogen atoms. Finally, some positively charged halogen-bonded systems have been investigated and the effect of the charge has been discussed.