Rotational Spectroscopic And Ab Initio Studies On The Weakly Bound Complexes Containing 0-H...π And S-H...π Interactions

Abstract

Work reported in this thesis mainly comprises of the assignments and analysis of the rotational spectra and structures of three weakly bound complexes: C2H4•••H2S, C6H5CCH•••H2O and C6H5CCH•••H2S. All the data have been collected using a home built Pulsed Nozzle Fourier Transform Microwave Spectrometer. Apart from this, the thesis also deals with a criterion of classifying a weakly bound complex to a ‘hydrogen-bonded’ one. First chapter of the thesis gives a brief intermolecular interactions and molecular clusters of π system. It also briefly touches on the structural determination by rotational spectroscopy and the basic information one can gain from the rotational spectrum. Second chapter of the thesis gives a brief introduction to the experimental and theoretical methodology. It also gives a description of the software used in the FTMW spectrometer which was rebuilt using Labview 7.1. Third chapter of the thesis deals with the rotational spectra and structure of eight isotopologoues of C2H4•••H2S complex. The lines are split into four components for the parent isotopologue due to the presence of large amplitude motion. The smaller splitting is 0.14 MHz and the higher splitting is 1.67 MHz in (B+C)/2 for the parent isotopologue. Spectral splitting pattern of the isotopologues confirmed that smaller splitting is due to the rotation of ethylene about its C-C bond axis along with the contraction of S-H bond whereas the larger motion arises due to the interchange of equivalent hydrogens of H2S in the complex. A detailed spectral analysis and ab initio calculation for this system have been described in chapter III. The fourth chapter of the thesis describes the rotational spectroscopic studies of five isotopologues of C6H5CCH•••H2O complex. Rotational spectra unequivocally confirm the structure of the complex to be a one where H2O is donating one of its hydrogen to the acetylenic π cloud forming a O-H••• π bond whereas the ring ortho C-H bond forms C-H•••O bond with the water oxygen. For theparent isotopomer the lines are split into two components due to the rotation of H2O about its C2 symmetric axis. The fifth chapter of thesis describes the rotational spectroscopic and ab initio studies of five isotopologues of C6H5CCH•••H2S complex. Rotational spectra indicate the structure to be the one where H2S is sitting on the top of the phenyl ring and shifted towards the acetylenic group. The sixth chapter of the thesis describes a criterion for calling a complex to be hydrogen bonded based on the dynamic structure rather than the static structure of the complex. The question asked is if the anisotropy of the interaction is strong enough to hold the ‘hydrogen bond’ when one takes dynamics into account. The proposed criterion is that the zero point energy of the motion which takes the hydrogen away from the acceptor should be much less than the barrier height of the respective motion supporting at least one bound level below the barrier. Ab initio calculations have been done on four model systems Ar2•••H2O, Ar2•••H2S, C2H4••• H2O and C2H4••• H2S to emphasize this criterion.