Structure Correlation Methods in Chemical Crystallography

The Cambridge Structural Database and structural dynamics

With the availability of the computer readable information in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), wide ranging, largely automated comparisons of fragment, molecular, and crystal structures have become possible. They show that the distributions of interatomic distances, angles, and torsion angles for a given structural fragment occurring in different environments are highly correlated among themselves and with other observables such as spectroscopic signals, reaction and activation energies. The correlations often extend continuously over large ranges of parameter values. They are reminiscent of bond breaking and forming reactions, polyhedral rearrangements, and conformational changes. They map-qualitatively-the regions of the structural parameter space in which molecular dynamics take place, namely, the low energy regions of the respective (free) energy surfaces. The extension and continuous nature of the correlations provides an organizing principle of large groups of structural data and suggests a reconsideration of traditional definitions and descriptions of bonds, "nonbonded" and "noncovalent" interactions in terms of Lewis acids interacting with Lewis bases. These aspects are illustrated with selected examples of historic importance and with some later developments. It seems that the amount of information in the CSD (and other structural databases) and the knowledge on the nature of, and the correlations within, this body of information should allow one-in the near future-to make credible interpolations and possibly predictions of structures and their properties with machine learning methods.

Theoretical Study of Changes in π-Electron Delocalization in the Analogues of an ortho-Hydroxy Schiff Base When the Proton Is Replaced with Li+ or BeH+

Molecular geometries of ortho-hydroxy Schiff base in keto-enamine and enol-imine tautomeric forms, its anion, and their derivatives in which H+ was replaced with Li+ or BeH+ were optimized at the B3LYP/6-311+G level of theory. Isodesmic reactions for estimating delocalization due to H-bonding or cation chelating were calculated. Geometry-based aromaticity index HOMA and magnetism-based NICS1(zz) index were used to estimate pi-electron delocalization. Keto-enamine tautomer exhibits low aromaticity in the ring and a relatively high pi-electron delocalization in the quasi-ring. The reverse was found for enol-imine tautomer. The Li+ and BeH+ derivatives showed a relatively high pi-electron delocalization in the ring and in the quasi-ring. This may be interpreted by an extension of the electron delocalization path in the pi-electron system through low-lying unoccupied p-type orbitals of Li+ and BeH+ cations.

What we can learn about fast chemical processes from slow diffraction experiments

The potential energy surface is an important determinant of a chemical reaction. Three ways of deducing non-trivial properties of such surfaces from the results of crystal structure analyses are discussed and illustrated with examples. (1) The mapping approach brings together structures of the same molecular fragment from different environments to outline reaction coordinates and vibrations. (2) Correlations between molecular structures and activation energies for a given reaction type reveal general and quantitative relations between seemingly independent entities such as ground state structure, force constants, reaction path length, activation energy and catalysis. (3) The evolution of atomic mean square amplitudes (displacement parameters) with temperature uncovers frequencies and atomic displacement patterns of large-amplitude vibrations in molecular crystals. Examples include the vibrations of molecular zeolite building blocks, the crankshaft motion of stilbenes, the dynamic coupling between pyramidal deformation of the amide NH2 group and hydrogen bonding, the bowl inversion of corannulenes and nucleophilic addition/elimination reactions.

The nature of solid-state N-H triplebondO/O-H triplebond N tautomeric competition in resonant systems. Intramolecular proton transfer in low-barrier hydrogen bonds formed by the triplebond O=C-C=N-NH triple bond --> <-- triplebond HO-C=C-N=N triplebond Ketohydrazone-Azoenol system. A variable-temperature X-ray crystallographic and DFT computational study

The tautomeric.O=C-C=N-NH triplebond --> <-- HO-C=C-N=N triplebond ketohydrazone-azoenol system may form strong N-H triplebond O/O-H triplebond N intramolecular resonance-assisted H-bonds (RAHBs) which are sometimes of the low-barrier H-bond type (LBHB) with dynamic exchange of the proton in the solid state. The problem of the N-H triplebond O/O-H triplebond N competition in these compounds is studied here through variable-temperature (100, 150, 200, and 295 K) crystal-structure determination of pF = 1-(4-F-phenylazo)2-naphthol and oF = 1-(2-F-phenylazo)2-naphthol, two molecules that, on the ground of previous studies (Gilli, P; Bertolasi, V.; Ferretti, V.; Gilli, G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 10405), were expected to represent an almost perfect balance of the two tautomers. According to predictions, the two molecules form remarkably strong bonds (d(N triplebond O) = 2.53-2.55 A) of double-minimum or LBHB type with dynamic N-H triplebond O/ O-H triplebond N exchange in the solid state. The enthalpy differences between the two minima, as measured by van't Hoff methods from the X-ray-determined proton populations, are very small and amount to DeltaH degrees = -0.120 and DeltaH degrees = -0.156 kcal mol(-)(1) in favor of the N-H triplebond O form for pF and oF, respectively. Successive emulation of pF by DFT methods at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level has shown that both energetic and geometric experimental aspects can be almost perfectly reproduced. Generalization of these results was sought by performing DFT calculations at the same level of theory along the complete proton-transfer (PT) pathway for five test molecules designed in such a way that the RAHB formed changes smoothly from weak N-H triplebond O to strong O-H.N through very strong N-H triplebond O/O-H triplebond N bond of LBHB type. A systematic correlation analysis of H-bond energies, H-bond and pi-conjugated fragment geometries, and H-bond Bader's AIM topological properties performed along the PT-pathways leads to the following conclusions: (a) any X-H triplebond Y H-bonded system is fully characterized by its intrinsic PT-barrier, that is, the symmetric barrier occurring when the proton affinities of X and Y are identical; (b) the intrinsic X-H triplebond Y bond associated with the symmetric barrier is the strongest possible bond in that system and will be single-minimum (single-well, no-barrier) or double-minimum (double-well, low-barrier) according to whether the intrinsic PT-barrier is lower or slightly higher than the zero-point vibrational level of the proton; (c) with reference to the intrinsic H-bond, the effect of chemical substitution can only be that of making more and more dissymmetric the PT-barrier, while the two H-bonds split in a higher-energy bond which is stronger because closer to the transition-state structure and in a lower-energy one (the stable form) which is weaker because farther from it; (d) complete dissymmetrization of the PT-barrier will increasingly weaken the more stable H-bond until the formation of an extreme dissymmetric single-minimum or dissymmetric single-well H-bond.