J. Phys. Chem. A, 116, 9205-9213 (2012)

DOI: 10.1021/jp307083g

Interplay of F-H...F Hydrogen Bonds and P...N Pnicogen Bonds

Ab initio MP2/aug′-cc-pVTZ calculations have been carried out to investigate the influence of F–H···F hydrogen bonds on the P···N pnicogen bond in complexes nFH:(H2FP:NFH2) for n = 1–2, and a selected complex with n = 3. The NBO analysis indicates that the N(lp) → P–Fσ* charge-transfer transition has a much greater stabilizing effect than the P(lp) → N–Fσ* transition. When hydrogen bonding occurs at P–F, charge transfer associated with the pnicogen bond and the hydrogen bond are in the same direction but are in opposite directions when hydrogen bonding occurs at N–F. As a result, the formation of F–H···F hydrogen bonds at P–F leads to shorter P···N distances, increased strength of P···N bonds, and synergistic energetic effects; hydrogen bonding at N–F has opposite effects. 31P and 15N chemical shieldings do not correlate with charges on P and N, respectively, but 31P shieldings correlate quadratically with the P–N distance. 1pJ(P–N) coupling constants do not correlate with the intermolecular P–N distance. However, when hydrogen bonding occurs only at P–F, 1pJ(P–N) decreases in absolute value as the P–N distance decreases, thereby approaching 1J(P–N) for H2P–NH2. However, the P···N bond in 3FH:(H2FP:NFH2) has little covalent character, unlike the P···P bond in the corresponding complex 3FH:(PH2F)2.