Theoretical study of 11-thiocyanatoundecanoic acid phenylamide derivatives on corrosion inhibition efficiencies

Abstract

Ab initio Hartree–Fock (HF) and Density Functional Theory (DFT) B3LYP methods with the 6-311G(d,p) basis set were applied to the three 11-thiocyanatoundecanoic acid phenylamide derivatives as corrosion inhibitors. Inhibition efficiency obtained experimentally followed the following order: N-(4-methoxyphenyl)-11-thiocyanatoundecanamide (N3MPTUA) > N-phenyl-11-thiocyanatoundecanamide (NPTUA) > N-(3-nitrophenyl)-11-thiocyanatoundecanamide (N3NPTUA). The molecular parameters most relevant to their potential action as corrosion inhibitors have been calculated in the neutral and protonated forms: EHOMO, ELUMO, energy gap (ΔE), dipole moment (μD), electronegativity (χ), global hardness (η), and the fraction of electrons transferred from the inhibitor molecule to the metallic atom (ΔN). The results of most of the global reactivity descriptors show that the experimental and theoretical studies agree well, and confirm that N3MPTUA is a better inhibitor than NPTUA or N3NPTUA. In addition, the local reactivity, analyzed through Fukui functions, show that the oxygen and nitrogen atoms will be the main adsorption sites.