Characterization and Photofragmentation Studies of the Benzimidazole Homodimer: Evidence for Excited-State Charge-Coupled Proton Transfer.

The spectroscopic characterization of the benzimidazole (BIM) homodimer was carried out in a molecular beam in the ground state as well as in the cationic state using the R2PI and RIDIR methods. Primarily, interest in the dimer was due to the observation of a proton-transferred BIM fragment at energies well below its thermodynamic threshold (i.e., barely above the ionization energy of the dimer where fragmentation was not expected). The detailed photofragmentation studies of the homodimer combined with spectroscopic observations and quantum chemical computations of the excited states established that the proton transfer from one subunit to the other occurs via conical intersections connecting the locally excited state, the charge-transfer state, and the ground state. In this study, we have also determined the N-H···N hydrogen bond dissociation energy in the ground state and in the cationic state to be 10.36 ± 0.14 and 27.55 ± 0.20 kcal mol-1, respectively. Incidentally, this happens to be the first such report on the dissociation energy of the N-H···N hydrogen bond.

O-H stretching frequency red shifts do not correlate with the dissociation energies in the dimethylether and dimethylsulfide complexes of phenol derivatives.

In this perspective, we present a comprehensive report on the spectroscopic and computational investigations of the hydrogen bonded (H-bonded) complexes of Me2O and Me2S with seven para-substituted H-bond donor phenols. The salient finding was that although the dissociation energies, D0, of the Me2O complexes were consistently higher than those of the analogous Me2S complexes, the red-shifts in phenolic O-H frequencies, Δν(O-H), showed the exactly opposite trend. This is in contravention of the general perception that the red shift in the X-H stretching frequency in the X-HY hydrogen bonded complexes is a reliable indicator of H-bond strength (D0), a concept popularly known as the Badger-Bauer rule. This is also in contrast to the trend reported for the H-bonded complexes of H2S/H2O with several para substituted phenols of different pKa values wherein the oxygen centered hydrogen bonded (OCHB) complexes consistently showed higher Δν(O-H) and D0 compared to those of the analogous sulfur centered hydrogen bonded (SCHB) complexes. Our effort was to understand these intriguing observations based on the spectroscopic investigations of 1 : 1 complexes in combination with a variety of high level quantum chemical calculations. Ab initio calculations at the MP2 level and the DFT calculations using various dispersion corrected density functionals (including DFT-D3) were performed on counterpoise corrected surfaces to compute the dissociation energy, D0, of the H-bonded complexes. The importance of anharmonic frequency computations is underscored as they were able to correctly reproduce the observed trend in the relative OH frequency shifts unlike the harmonic frequency computations. We have attempted to find a unified correlation that would globally fit the observed red shifts in the O-H frequency with the H-bonding strength for the four bases, namely, H2S, H2O, Me2O, and Me2S, in this set of H-bond donors. It was found that the proton affinity normalized Δν(O-H) values scale very well with the H-bond strength.

Exploration of the theobromine-water dimer: comparison with DNA microhydration.

Understanding the molecular basis of the appearance of life on Earth is an exciting research field. Many factors may have influenced the election of the molecules used by living beings and evolution may have modified those original compounds. In an attempt to understand the role played by intermolecular interactions in the election of CGAT as the alphabet of life, we present here a thorough experimental and computational study on the interaction of theobromine with water. Theobromine is a xanthine derivative, structurally related to the nucleobases, and also present in many living beings. The experimental results demonstrate that the most stable isomer of theobromine-water was formed and detected in supersonic expansions. This isomer very well resembles the structure of the dimers between nucleobases and water, offering similar values of binding energy. A comparison between the results obtained for theobromine-water with those reported in the literature for monohydrates of nucleobases is also offered.

C-HS interaction exhibits all the characteristics of conventional hydrogen bonds.

This is a tale of a pair of a hydrogen bond donor and acceptor, namely the CH donor and sulphur acceptor, neither of which is a conventional hydrogen bond participant. Sulfur (S), being less electronegative (2.58) compared to its first row analogue oxygen (3.44), has not been considered as a potential HB acceptor for a long time. The C-HY (Y = HB acceptor) interaction has its own history of exhibiting omnidirectional shifts in the CH stretching frequency upon complex formation. Therefore, a systematic investigation of the C-HS interaction was the primary goal of the work presented here. Together with gas-phase vibrational spectroscopy and ab initio quantum chemical calculations, the nature and strength of the C-HS hydrogen bond (HB) have been investigated in the complexes of 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB) with various sulfur containing solvents. Despite the unconventional nature of both HB donor and HB acceptor (C-H and S, respectively), it was found that the C-HS hydrogen bond exhibits all the characteristics of the conventional hydrogen bond. The binding strength of the C-HS H-bond in these complexes was found to be comparable to that of the conventional hydrogen bonds. The unusual stabilities of these HBs have been mainly attributed to the attractive dispersion interaction.

Revisiting the spectroscopy of xanthine derivatives: theobromine and theophylline.

We explore the influence of the relative position of the methyl substituent on the photophysics of theophylline and theobromine, two molecules that are structurally related to the DNA bases. Using a combination of spectroscopic techniques and quantum mechanical calculations, we show that moving the methyl group from N1 in theophylline to N7 in theobromine causes significant differences in their excited state properties, i.e., it produces pyramidalization of N7 in the excited state of the latter. Paradoxically, this modification seems to have little effect on the structural properties of the cation and the ionization process. It is suggested that similar effects may exist in the excited state properties of DNA bases.

Electronic and Infrared Spectroscopy of Benzene-(H2S)n (n = 1 and 2): The Prototype of the SH-π Interaction.

Benzene-(H2S)n (n = 1 and 2) clusters are the simplest prototype exemplifying the SH-π interaction. Electronic and infrared spectroscopies were applied to the benzene-(H2S)n clusters under the molecular beam condition. The S1-S0 electronic spectrum was observed by one-color resonant two-photon ionization combined with mass spectrometry. Ionization depletion infrared spectra were also observed in the CH and SH stretch regions. The isomer-selective infrared spectra demonstrated that at least two isomers of n = 1 coexist under the present beam condition, and both of them have the SH-π bound structures. One isomer showed a red-shift in the S1-S0 electronic transition relative to that of bare benzene, while the electronic transition of another isomer was slightly blue-shifted. For n = 2, we confirmed a structure, in which hydrogen-bonded H2S dimer is located on top of the aromatic ring.

C-H···O Hydrogen Bond Anchored Water Bridge in 1,2,4,5-Tetracyanobenzene-Water Clusters.

The hydrogen-bonded chain of water molecules is known to play a very important role in proton/H transfer in chemistry and biology. This kind of water chain mainly starts from a conventional hydrogen bond (HB) donor/acceptor site. Here, we report the experimental evidence of water chain formation on an unconventional C-H HB donor site in 1,2,4,5-tetracyanobenzene (TCNB). Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) spectra and fluorescence dip IR (FDIR) spectra of 1: n ( n = 1-3) clusters of TCNB with water prepared in a supersonic molecular jet are presented. Quantum chemical calculations of several intuitive conformers of 1: n ( n = 1-3) clusters were performed, and the computed IR spectra were compared with the experimental FDIR spectra in order to get the structural information on the experimentally observed clusters. We find that the first water molecule binds to the C-H moiety of TCNB (1:1 cluster) and the subsequent water molecules form a water chain (1:2 and 1:3 clusters) that constitutes a bridge between the C-H and the proximal -CN moiety of TCNB, forming a cyclic ring structure. NBO calculations show that upon addition of water molecules significant change in the charge distribution takes place, mainly on the atoms which are involved in cyclic ring structure. This redistribution of charges causes a cooperativity effect in the higher water clusters of TCNB.

N-H···S Interaction Continues To Be an Enigma: Experimental and Computational Investigations of Hydrogen-Bonded Complexes of Benzimidazole with Thioethers.

The N-H···S hydrogen bond, even though classified as an unconventional hydrogen bond, is found to bear important structural implications on protein structure and folding. In this article, we report a gas-phase study of the N-H···S hydrogen bond between the model compounds of histidine (benzimidazole, denoted BIM) and methionine (dimethyl sulfide, diethyl sulfide, and tetrahydrothiophene, denoted Me2S, Et2S, and THT, respectively). A combination of laser spectroscopic methods such as laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), two-color resonant two-photon ionization (2cR2PI), and fluorescence depletion by infrared spectroscopy (FDIR) is used in conjunction with DFT and ab initio calculations to characterize the nature of this prevalent H-bonding interaction in simple bimolecular complexes. A single conformer was found to exist for the BIM-Me2S complex, whereas the BIM-Et2S and BIM-THT complexes showed the presence of three and two conformers, respectively. These conformers were characterized on the basis of IR spectroscopic results and electronic structure calculations. Quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), natural bond orbital (NBO), and energy decomposition (NEDA) analyses were performed to investigate the nature of the N-H···S H-bond. Comparison of the results with the N-H···O type of interactions in BIM and indole revealed that the strength of the N-H···S H-bond is similar to N-H···O in these binary gas-phase complexes.

Nature and Hierarchy of Noncovalent Interactions in Gas-Phase Binary Complexes of Indole and Benzimidazole with Ethers.

Hierarchy among the weak noncovalent interactions such as van der Waals, electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, etc. dictates the secondary and tertiary structures of proteins as well as their interactions with various ligands. In this work, we investigate the competition between conventional (N-H···O) hydrogen bonds, unconventional (C-H···O) hydrogen bonds, and the van der Waals interaction in the model compounds of the chromophores of the amino acids, tryptophan, and histidine. These include indole (IND), benzimidazole (BIM), and its N-methylated analog (N-methylbenzimidazole, MBIM), which present multiple docking sites. The binary complexes of these molecules with ethers (dimethyl ether, diethyl ether, and tetrahydrofuran), which possess high proton affinity but lack acidic protons (thereby only act as hydrogen bond acceptors), are investigated. The complexes are formed in a supersonic jet and jointly studied by electronic and vibrational spectroscopy as well as quantum chemical calculations. Only the N-H···O bound structures are observed for the complexes of IND and BIM with ethers, although computations predict reasonably competent C-H···O type of structures. Remarkably, IND and BIM produce three (N-H···O) conformers with Me2O but single conformers with Et2O and THF. In the case of MBIM, which lacks a conventional hydrogen bond donor, no evidence for C(2)-H···O hydrogen bonds is seen; instead, the complexes are found to be bound purely by van der Waals interactions. The results indicate that strong N-H···O and even weak van der Waals interactions are thermodynamically favored over C(2)-H···O bound structures in these binary gas-phase complexes.

Conformational Heterogeneity and the Role of the C(2)-H Donor in Mono- and Dihydrated Clusters of Benzoxazole.

The significance of the heteroatom in influencing the acidity and binding affinity of the C(2)-H donor in five-membered heterocyclic rings is explored. The water clusters of benzoxazole (BOX) are studied in a supersonic jet by IR-UV double resonance spectroscopy and compared with those of benzimidazole (BIM) and its N-methyl derivative (MBIM). Two conformers are identified for the monohydrated cluster, both of which are O-H···N bound and differ in their orientation with respect to the intermolecular hydrogen bond. IR spectroscopy of the doubly hydrated cluster shows the presence of an intensity enhanced C(2)-H (carbon atom between the heteroatoms in the five-membered ring) stretching mode in addition to two red-shifted bound OH stretches, indicating that the water molecules form a hydrogen-bonded bridge encompassing the N acceptor and the weakly activated C(2)-H bond in oxazole. Comparison of the topological parameters of electron density, natural bond orbital analyses, and computed binding energies of the analogous hydrated structures of BOX, BIM, and MBIM indicates that the C(2)-H bond in the former is a more potent H-bond donor.

Role of the C(2)-H Hydrogen Bond Donor in Gas-Phase Microsolvation of Imidazole Derivatives with ROH (R = CH3, C2H5).

Although the hydrogen-bonding properties of the protic solvents are comparable, a comparison of the gas-phase structures of water with those of the alcohols reveals certain similarities as well as differences. In this work we report the microsolvated clusters of imidazole derivatives, Benzimidazole (BIM) and N-methylbenzimidazole (MBIM) by methanol (M) and ethanol (E) in supersonic jet using electronic and vibrational spectroscopy and compare them with their hydrated clusters. The cluster sizes up to 1:2 of BIM/MBIM with methanol and ethanol, and up to 1:3 in the case of MBIM-methanol were observed. Both the N-H···O and O-H···N bound structures were observed for the BIM-M1 and BIM-E1 complexes. The O-H···N bound structures of 1:1 complexes of MBIM were relatively more stable than their BIM counterparts by about ∼0.25 kcal mol-1. Three distinct conformations (anti, gauche, and gauche') were identified for the O-H···N bound complexes of BIM-E1 and MBIM-E1. IR spectroscopy of the doubly and triply solvated clusters (namely BIM-M2, MBIM-M2,3 and MBIM-E2) gives unequivocal proof of H-bonded bridges that originate from the N acceptor and terminate at the C(2)-H group, similar to the analogous water clusters. These studies confirm that the C(2)-H in imidazole plays an important role in its solvation, particularly in the case of polar solvents. Quantum chemical calculations performed at the DFT (B3LYP as well as dispersion-corrected functionals) and MP2 levels corroborate the experimental findings. Comparison of the QTAIM and NBO parameters for the pairwise solvent interactions in the clusters with those of methanol and ethanol homodimers reflects the co-operative nature of these H-bonding interactions.

Water bridges anchored by a C-HO hydrogen bond: the role of weak interactions in molecular solvation.

The imidazole group, characterized by an activated C(2)-H bond sandwiched between two N atoms, occurs in several biomolecules including alkaloids, amino acids, and nucleobases. The speculated role of this potential hydrogen bond donor in shaping the solvation shell around the neutral imidazole moiety, however, remains unidentified. In contrast, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions are commonly observed in the imidazolium cation where the acidity of the C(2)-H bond is markedly enhanced. Here, we show direct evidence of the weakly activated C(2)-H bond in shaping the solvation shell of neutral imidazole, via spectroscopic characterization of the water clusters (Wn, n = 2-4) of two model compounds, benzimidazole (BIM) and N-methylbenzimidazole (MBIM). Infrared spectra in the OH, NH, and CH stretching regions allow unambiguous detection of a N-WW-C(2)H binding motif in the doubly hydrated cluster of both molecules. Remarkably, H-bonded water bridges between the N atom and N-H bond in BIM-W3,4 clusters are switched to the C(2)-H bond in MBIM-W3,4 with comparable binding strength, indicating that the weakly activated C(2)-H bond in the neutral imidazole moiety can serve as a potent H-bond donor.

Acid-Base Formalism Extended to Excited State for O-H···S Hydrogen Bonding Interaction.

Hydrogen bond can be regarded as an interaction between a base and a proton covalently bound to another base. In this context the strength of hydrogen bond scales with the proton affinity of the acceptor base and the pKa of the donor, i.e., it follows the acid-base formalism. This has been amply demonstrated in conventional hydrogen bonds. Is this also true for the unconventional hydrogen bonds involving lesser electronegative elements such as sulfur atom? In our previous work, we had established that the strength of O-H···S hydrogen bonding (HB) interaction scales with the proton affinity (PA) of the acceptor. In this work, we have investigated the other counterpart, i.e., the H-bonding interaction between the photoacids with different pKa values with a common base such as the H2O and H2S. The 1:1 complexes of five para substituted phenols p-aminophenol, p-cresol, p-fluorophenol, p-chlorophenol, and p-cyanophenol with H2O and H2S were investigated experimentally and computationally. The investigations were also extended to the excited states. The experimental observations of the spectral shifts in the O-H stretching frequency and the S1-S0 band origins were correlated with the pKa of the donors. Ab initio calculations at the MP2 and various dispersion corrected density functional levels of theory were performed to compute the dissociation energy (D0) of the complexes. The quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), noncovalent interaction (NCI) method, natural bonding orbital (NBO) analysis, and natural decomposition analysis (NEDA) were carried out for further characterization of HB interaction. The O-H stretching frequency red shifts and the dissociation energies were found to be lower for the O-H···S hydrogen bonded systems compared to those for the O-H···O H-bound systems. Despite being dominated by the dispersion interaction the O-H···S interaction in the H2S complexes also conformed to the acid-base formalism, i.e., the D0 and the O-H red shift scaled with the pKa of the donor, similar to that observed in the O-H···O interaction. However, the two classes of H-bonds follow different correlations. In addition we also discuss the nuances associated with the similarity and differences in the hydrogen bonding properties of the two classes in the ground electronic state as well as in the excited state.

Dissociation Energies of Sulfur-Centered Hydrogen-Bonded Complexes.

In this work we have determined dissociation energies of O-H···S hydrogen bond in the H2S complexes of various phenol derivatives using 2-color-2-photon photofragmentation spectroscopy in combination with zero kinetic energy photoelectron (ZEKE-PE) spectroscopy. This is the first report of direct determination of dissociation energy of O-H···S hydrogen bond. The ZEKE-PE spectra of the complexes revealed a long progression in the intermolecular stretching mode with significant anharmonicity. Using the anharmonicity information and experimentally determined dissociation energy, we also validated Birge-Sponer (B-S) extrapolation method, which is an approximate method to estimate dissociation energy. Experimentally determined dissociation energies were compared with a variety of ab initio calculations. One of the important findings is that ωB97X-D functional, which is a dispersion corrected DFT functional, was able to predict the dissociation energies in both the cationic as well as the ground electronic state very well for almost every case.

Conformational preferences of monohydrated clusters of imidazole derivatives revisited.

We present the IR spectroscopic investigations of benzimidazole (BIM), N-methylbenzimidazole (MBIM), and their monohydrates (W1) carried out in a supersonic jet in the region of N-H, C-H, and O-H stretching fundamentals. The C-H stretching modes in the monomers were studied with the aim of identifying the C(2)H mode (the C atom between the two N atoms in the imidazole moiety) which is known to play an important role as a H-bond donor in enzymes and ionic liquids. The assignment was aided by quantum chemical calculations as well as the literature data for FTIR measurements in the matrix. The monohydrated clusters were investigated for a global comparison with previously reported conformations of hydrated imidazole and related derivatives in the gas phase, matrices, and He nanodroplets. The BIM-W1 complex showed the presence of three conformers; an N-H∙∙∙O bound conformer (A') and two O-H∙∙∙N bound conformers, tilted towards the phenyl side (A) and the imidazole side (B), respectively. Although both A' and B type conformers have been reported in the literature, our experiments identify a new conformer (conformer A) in the gas phase for the first time which has also been reported in crystal structures of histidine containing proteins. The binding energies of the three conformers were found to be of comparable magnitude, with the N-HO bound structure lying in between (∼0.02-0.04 kcal mol(-1)) the O-H∙∙∙N bound ones at the counterpoise corrected (cp) MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory. The formation of two distinct but closely related O-H∙∙∙N bound conformers (A and B) was additionally confirmed by studying the MBIM-W1 complex. Binding energies of the MBIM-W1 conformers were found to be higher than those of the analogous BIM-W1 conformers by 0.2 kcal mol(-1) at the cp-MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level. The C(2)-H∙∙∙O or π bound water structures were not observed in the beam for monohydrated clusters of either monomer. While QTAIM calculations predicted secondary stabilization in the A type conformer by a C(4)-HO hydrogen bond, such an effect due to a possible C(2)-HO interaction was not found for conformer B. Experimentally, however, no spectral evidence was found for either the C(4)-H∙∙∙O or the C(2)-H∙∙∙O interaction.

Acid-base formalism in dispersion-stabilized S-H···Y (Y═O, S) hydrogen-bonding interactions.

The role of sulfhydryl (S-H) group as hydrogen bond donor is not as well studied as that of hydroxyl (O-H). In this work we report on the hydrogen-bonding properties of S-H donor in 1:1 complexes of H2S with diethyl ether (Et2O), dibutyl ether (Bu2O), and 1,4-dioxane (DO). The complexes were prepared in supersonic jet and investigated using infrared predissociation spectroscopy based on VUV photoionization detection. The IR spectra of all the complexes showed the presence of a broad, intensity-enhanced, and red-shifted hydrogen-bonded S-H stretching transition. The S-H stretching frequency was red-shifted by 46, 63, and 49 cm(-1) in H2S-Et2O, H2S-Bu2O, and H2S-DO complexes, respectively, suggesting that all the complexes are S-H···O bound. Computationally, two different S-H···O bound structures, namely, "coplanar" and "perpendicular", were obtained as the minimum energy structures for these complexes at the MP2/6-311++G** level, with the former being the global minimum. However, with Dunning-type basis sets (aug-cc-pVDZ and aug-cc-pVTZ) only the perpendicular structures were found to be stable at the MP2 level. The large widths of the bound S-H stretch observed in the experimental spectra (fwhm of 35 to 80 cm(-1)) were attributed to inhomogeneous broadening due to multiple conformations of the alkyl chains in the coplanar and perpendicular structures populated in the jet. The frequency shifts in the hydrogen-bonded S-H stretching mode as well as the bond dissociation energies of all S-H···Y (Y═O,S) complexes of H2S, which includes the H2S dimer and H2S-methanol (H2S-MeOH) complexes reported in our previous work (ChemPhysChem 2013, 14, 905-914), were found to scale linearly with the proton affinity of the acceptor molecule. In this regard the S-H group, like O-H, is found to conform to the widely accepted acid-base nature of hydrogen-bonding interactions.

ZEKE photoelectron spectroscopy of p-fluorophenol···H2S/H2O complexes and dissociation energy measurement using the Birge-Sponer extrapolation method.

In this work we have shown that the Birge-Sponer extrapolation method can be successfully used to determine the dissociation energies (D0) of noncovalently bound complexes. The O-H···S hydrogen-bonding interaction in the cationic state of the p-fluorophenol···H2S complex was characterized using zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy. This is the first ZEKE report on the O-H···S hydrogen-bonding interaction. The adiabatic ionization energy (AIE) of the complex was determined as 65 542 cm(-1). Various intermolecular and intramolecular vibrational modes of the cation were assigned. A long progression was observed in the intermolecular stretching mode (σ) of the complex with significant anharmonicity along this mode. The anharmonicity information was used to estimate the dissociation energy (D0) in the cationic state using the Birge-Sponer extrapolation method. The D0 was estimated as 9.72 ± 1.05 kcal mol(-1). The ZEKE photoelectron spectra of analogous complex FLP···H2O was also recorded for the sake of comparison. The AIE was determined as 64 082 cm(-1). The intermolecular stretching mode in this system, however, was found to be quite harmonic, unlike that in the H2S complex. The dissociation energies of both the complexes, along with those of a few benchmark systems, such as phenol···H2O and indole···benzene complexes, were computed at various levels of theory such as MP2 at the complete basis set limit, ωB97X-D, and CCSD(T). It was found that only the ωB97X-D level values were in excellent agreement with the experimental results for the benchmark systems for the ground as well as the cationic states. The dissociation energy of the (FLP···H2S)(+) complex determined by the Birge-Sponer extrapolation was about ∼18% lower than that computed at the ωB97X-D level.

C-H···N hydrogen-bonding interaction in 7-azaindole:CHX3 (X=F, Cl) complexes.

The C-H···Y (Y=hydrogen-bond acceptor) interactions are somewhat unconventional in the context of hydrogen-bonding interactions. Typical C-H stretching frequency shifts in the hydrogen-bond donor C-H group are not only small, that is, of the order of a few tens of cm(-1) , but also bidirectional, that is, they can be red or blue shifted depending on the hydrogen-bond acceptor. In this work we examine the C-H···N interaction in complexes of 7-azaindole with CHCl3 and CHF3 that are prepared in the gas phase through supersonic jet expansion using the fluorescence depletion by infra-red (FDIR) method. Although the hydrogen-bond acceptor, 7-azaindole, has multiple sites of interaction, it is found that the C-H···N hydrogen-bonding interaction prevails over the others. The electronic excitation spectra suggest that both complexes are more stabilized in the S1 state than in the S0 state. The C-H stretching frequency is found to be red shifted by 82 cm(-1) in the CHCl3 complex, which is the largest redshift reported so far in gas-phase investigations of 1:1 haloform complexes with various substrates. In the CHF3 complex the observed C-H frequency is blue shifted by 4 cm(-1). This is at variance with the frequency shifts that are predicted using several computational methods; these predict at best a redshift of 8.5 cm(-1). This discrepancy is analogous to that reported for the pyridine-CHF3 complex [W. A. Herrebout, S. M. Melikova, S. N. Delanoye, K. S. Rutkowski, D. N. Shchepkin, B. J. van der Veken, J. Phys. Chem. A- 2005, 109, 3038], in which the blueshift is termed a pseudo blueshift and is shown to be due to the shifting of levels caused by Fermi resonance between the overtones of the C-H bending and stretching modes. The dissociation energies, (D0), of the CHCl3 and CHF3 complexes are computed (MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level) as 6.46 and 5.06 kcal mol(-1), respectively.

Molecular-level understanding of ground- and excited-state O-H...O hydrogen bonding involving the tyrosine side chain: a combined high-resolution laser spectroscopy and quantum chemistry study.

The present study combines both laser spectroscopy and ab initio calculations to investigate the intermolecular OH⋅⋅⋅O hydrogen bonding of complexes of the tyrosine side chain model chromophore compounds phenol (PH) and para-cresol (pCR) with H2 O, MeOH, PH and pCR in the ground (S0 ) state as well as in the electronic excited (S1 ) state. All the experimental and computational findings suggest that the H-bond strength increases in the S1 state and irrespective of the hydrogen bond acceptor used, the dispersion energy contribution to the total interaction energy is about 10-15 % higher in the S1 state compared to that in the S0 state. The alkyl-substituted (methyl; +I effect) H-bond acceptor forms a significantly stronger H bond both in the S0 and the S1 state compared to H2 O, whereas the aryl-substituted (phenyl; -R effect) H-bond donor shows a minute change in energy compared to H2 O. The theoretical study emphasizes the significant role of the dispersive interactions in the case of the pCR and PH dimers, in particular the CH⋅⋅⋅O and the CH⋅⋅⋅π interactions between the donor and acceptor subunits in controlling the structure and the energetics of the aromatic dimers. The aromatic dimers do not follow the acid-base formalism, which states that the stronger the base, the more red-shifted is the XH stretching frequency, and consequently the stronger is the H-bond strength. This is due to the significant contribution of the dispersion interaction to the total binding energy of these compounds.

O-H···S hydrogen bonds conform to the acid-base formalism.

Hydrogen bonding interaction between the ROH hydrogen bond donor and sulfur atom as an acceptor has not been as well characterized as the O-H···O interaction. The strength of O-H···O interactions for a given donor has been well documented to scale linearly with the proton affinity (PA) of the H-bond acceptor. In this regard, O-H···O interactions conform to the acid-base formalism. The importance of such correlation is to be able to estimate molecular property of the complex from the known thermodynamic data of its constituents. In this work, we investigate the properties of O-H···S interaction in the complexes of the H-bond donor and sulfur containing acceptors of varying proton affinity. The hydrogen bonded complexes of p-Fluorophenol (FP) with four different sulfur containing acceptors and their oxygen analogues, namely H2O/H2S, MeOH/MeSH, Me2O/Me2S and tetrahydrofuran (THF)/tetrahydrothiophene (THT) were characterized in regard to its S1-S0 excitation spectra and the IR spectra. Two-color resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (2c-R2PI), resonant ion-dip infrared (RIDIR) spectroscopy, and IR-UV hole burning spectroscopic techniques were used to probe the hydrogen bonds in the aforementioned complexes. The spectroscopic data along with the ab initio calculations were used to deduce the strength of the O-H···S hydrogen bonding interactions in these system relative to that in the O-H···O interactions. It was found that, despite being dominated by the dispersion interaction, the O-H···S interactions conform to the acid-base formalism as in the case of more conventional O-H···O interactions. The dissociation energies and the red shifts in the O-H stretching frequencies correlated very well with the proton affinity of the acceptors. However, the O-H···S interaction did not follow the same correlation as that in the O-H···O H-bond. The energy decomposition analysis showed that the dissociation energies and the red shifts in the O-H stretching frequencies follow a unified correlation if these two parameters were correlated with the sum of the charge transfer and the exchange component of the total binding energy.