Effect of the substituent and hydrogen bond on the geometry and electronic properties of OH and O(-) groups in para-substituted phenol and phenolate derivatives.

Interrelations between intra- and intermolecular interactions were analyzed by using computational modeling of the para-X-substituted derivatives of phenol and phenolate (where X = NO, NO(2), CHO, COMe, COOH, CONH(2), Cl, F, H, Me, OMe, and OH) and their equilibrium H-bonded complexes with HB and B(-) (where HB = HF and HCN and B(-) = F(-) and CN(-)). B3LYP/6-311++G** computation was applied. Both the substituent effect and H-bonding changed the electronic properties of the -O(-) and -OH groups and geometric parameters of phenol and phenolate derivatives and their H-bonded complexes. C-O bond lengths and aromaticity indices of the ring were found to depend linearly on σ(p)(-) of the substituents. In the first case the greatest sensitivity on the substituent effect was for 4-X-C(6)H(4)OH···CN(-) and 4-X-C(6)H(4)O(-)···HF complexes, whereas for 4-X-C(6)H(4)O(-)···HCN systems it was comparable with that for phenol derivatives and a little smaller than that for 4-X-C(6)H(4)O(-) derivatives. This means that the strength of H-bonding may considerably change the sensitivity of the C-O bond length to the substituent effect. The greatest sensitivity of the aromaticity indices, both HOMA and NICS(1)zz, to σ(p)(-) was found for phenolate and then for phenolate H-bonded complexes, followed by phenol complexes, and the lowest sensitivity was observed for phenol derivatives. The interatomic proton-acceptor distance, being a measure of the H-bond strength, was found to depend linearly on σ(p)(-) of the substituents with a positive slope for O···HB (HF or HCN) interactions and a negative slope for OH···B(-) interactions. NBO charges on the oxygen and hydrogen atoms also depend on σ(p)(-) of the substituents. In the latter case for strong H-bonded complexes (energy less than ∼-20 kcal/mol) the substituent effect works oppositely for 4-X-C(6)H(4)OH···B(-) in comparison with the 4-X-C(6)H(4)O(-)···HB systems. Moreover, following the Espinoza et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 2002, 117, 5529] and Grabowski et al. [J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 6444] classifications, the above and q(H) vs proton-acceptor distance relationships suggest a partially covalent character of the hydrogen bond for these complexes and the degree of its covalent nature depending on the substituent.