Theoretical investigation of the nature and strength of simultaneous interactions of π–π stacking and halogen bond including NMR, SAPT, AIM and NBO analysis

Abstract

Ab initio MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ calculations were performed to investigate mutual effect between π–π stacking and halogen bond interactions in X-ben||pyr···Cl–F complexes (X = CN, F, Cl, Br, CH₃, OH and H where || and ··· denote π–π stacking and halogen bonds). The results indicate the cooperativity of π–π stacking and halogen bonds in these complexes. This effect was discussed in terms of the energetic, geometrical parameters and charge-transfer properties of the complexes. To explore on the two-bonded spin–spin coupling constant ^2X J(N–F) across ¹⁵N···³⁵Cl–¹⁹F halogen bond in X-ben||pyr···Cl–F complexes, NMR calculations were performed at PBE0/aug-cc-pVDZ levels of theory. To get more insight into the physical nature of the binding energies, Symmetry Adapted Perturbation Theory calculations were carried out. Energy decomposition indicates that the percentage of the electrostatic term in the halogen bonding system constitutes approximately half of the total attractive binding energies, while the percentage of the dispersion term in the π–π stacking complexes constitutes approximately half of the attractive binding energies. In addition, atoms in molecules, natural bond orbital and molecular electrostatic potential were also used to probe the π–π stacking interactions and halogen bonding strengths.