Conformational analysis: crystallographic, molecular mechanics and quantum chemical studies of C—H...O hydrogen bonding in the flexible bis(nosylate) derivative of catechol

Abstract

The single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of 2-{[(4-nitrophenoxy)sulfonyl]oxy}phenyl 4-nitrophenyl sulfate (4) reveals that an interesting intermolecular or extended structure (a one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded polymer) is formed because of pairs of intermolecular (aryl)C—H...O(nitro) hydrogen bonds between the C 2 symmetry monomer units. The axis of the hydrogen-bonded polymer runs co-linear with the [101] face diagonal of the monoclinic unit cell. Molecular mechanics calculations using a modified version of the MM+ force field and a random conformational search algorithm have been used to locate the important low-energy in vacuo conformations of (4). The MM-calculated conformation of (4) that most closely matches the X-ray structure lies some 26.5 kJ mol−1 higher in energy than the global minimum-energy conformation, consistent with the notion that the crystallographically observed molecular architecture of (4) is a local energy minimum in the absence of its crystal lattice environment. Since the X-ray conformation of (4) was correctly calculated only when all of the neighbouring molecules in the crystal lattice were included in the simulation, hydrogen bonding and other non-bonded interactions in the crystal lattice clearly dictate the experimentally observed conformation of (4). Quantum chemical calculations (AM1 method) confirm the critical role played by the intermolecular (aryl)C—H...O(nitro) hydrogen bonds in controlling the crystallographically observed conformation of (4) and show that self-recognition in this system by hydrogen bonding is favoured on electrostatic grounds. Collectively, the molecular simulations suggest that because the lowest-energy molecular conformation of (4) does not permit the formation of an extended hydrogen-bonded `supramolecular' structure, it is not the preferred conformation in the crystalline solid state.