A comparative study of the infrared and Raman spectra of aniline and o-, m-, p-phenylenediamine isomers

The structural stabilities of o-, m- and p-phenylenediamine (PDA) isomers were investigated by DFT-B3LYP and ab initio MP2 calculations with the 6-311G** basis set. From the calculations the three isomers were predicted to exist predominantly in an anti (transoid) structure. In the o-isomer, the syn (cisoid) form is calculated to turn to the anti (transoid) form with the two HNCC torsional angles of about 44 and 10 degrees and the NH2 inversion barrier of 3-4 kcal/mol. The CCNH torsional angles in the m-PDA and p-PDA isomers were calculated to be about 25-26 degrees as compared to 20 degrees in aniline. A comparison of the Raman spectra of the three PDA-s with those of aniline shows the high sensitivity of the ring breathing mode to the nature of substituents in the aniline ring. The vibrational wavenumbers were computed at the DFT-B3LYP for aniline and the o-, m- and p-PDA isomers for the purpose of comparison. Complete vibrational assignments were made on the basis of normal coordinate analyses and potential energy distributions for aniline and the o-, m- and p-PDA molecules. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.