Internal Rotation of 2-, 3-and 4-Pyridine Carboxaldehydes and Their Chalcogen Analogues (S and Se) in the Gas and Solution Phases: A Theoretical Investigation

The optimized molecular structures, vibrational wavenumbers and corresponding vibrational assignments of the syn and anti conformers of 2-, 3- and 4-pyridine carboxaldehydes and their sulfur and selenium analogues were calculated using the density functional theory method employing the B3LYP functional with the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set and second order Moller-Plesset Perturbation Theory (MP2) method with the cc-pVDZ basis set. The calculations were adapted to the C (s) symmetries of all ground state structures. The transition state arising from syn-anti isomerization was also modelled. All structures were fully optimized, and the geometries, rotational constants, dipole moments, charges, thermodynamic properties and energies are reported. Energies of the optimized structures were used to obtain the energy difference between the syn and anti conformers and the rotational barrier. The calculated vibrational wavenumbers were appropriately assigned to the various fundamental modes of vibrations. The Integral Equation Formalism Polarization Continuum Model was used to calculate the optimized geometry and the vibrational wavenumbers for all of the compounds in nine solvents: heptane, chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, dichloroethane, acetone, ethanol, methanol, dimethylsulfoxide and water. In addition, the LUMO, HOMO and energy band gap are also reported. The results indicate that the anti conformer is preferred with a rotational barrier of at least 19 kJ center dot mol(-1).