I wrote earlier about the strangely close contact between two hydrogen atoms in cis-butene. The topology of the electron density showed characteristics of a bond, but is it a consensual union? The two hydrogens approach closer than their van der Waals radii would suggest is normal, so something is happening, but that something need not be what chemists might choose to call a “bond“. An NCI (non-covalent analysis) hinted that any stability due to the electron topologic characteristics of a bond (the BCP) might be more than offset by the repulsive nature of the adjacent ring critical point (RCP). Here I offer an alternative explanation for why the two hydrogens approach so closely.
Posts Tagged ‘conformational analysis’
Are close H…H contacts bonds? The dénouement!
Monday, October 10th, 2011Are close H…H contacts bonds?
Friday, October 7th, 2011The properties of electrons are studied by both chemists and physicists. At the boundaries of these two disciplines, sometimes interesting differences in interpretation emerge. One of the most controversial is that due to Bader (for a recent review, see DOI: 10.1021/jp102748b) a physicist who brought the mathematical rigor of electronic topology to bear upon molecules. The title of his review is revealing: “Definition of Molecular Structure: By Choice or by Appeal to Observation?”. He argues that electron density is observable, and that what chemists call a bond should be defined by that observable (with the implication that chemists instead often resort to arbitrary choice). Here I explore one molecule which could be said to be the focus of the differences between physics and chemistry; cis-but-2-ene.
Conformational restriction involving formyl CH…F hydrogen bonds.
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011The title of this post paraphrases E. J. Corey’s article in 1997 (DOI: 10.1016/S0040-4039(96)02248-4) which probed the origins of conformation restriction in aldehydes. The proposal was of (then) unusual hydrogen bonding between the O=C-H…F-B groups. Here I explore whether the NCI (non-covalent-interaction) method can be used to cast light on this famous example of how unusual interactions might mediate selectivity in organic reactions.
The inner secrets of the DNA structure.
Wednesday, May 18th, 2011In earlier posts, I alluded to what might make DNA wind into a left or a right-handed helix. Here I switch the magnification of our structural microscope up a notch to take a look at some more inner secrets.
Updating a worked problem in conformational analysis. Part 2: an answer.
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011The previous post set out a problem in conformational analysis. Here is my take, which includes an NCI (non-covalent interaction) display as discussed in another post.
Updating a worked problem in conformational analysis. Part 1: the question.
Friday, May 13th, 2011Conformational analysis comes from the classical renaissance of physical organic chemistry in the 1950s and 60s. The following problem is taken from E. D. Hughes and J. Wilby J. Chem. Soc., 1960, 4094-4101, DOI: 10.1039/JR9600004094, the essence of which is that Hofmann elimination of a neomenthyl derivative (C below) was observed as anomalously faster than its menthyl analogue. Of course, what is anomalous in one decade is a standard student problem (and one Nobel prize) five decades later.
Why are α-helices in proteins mostly right handed?
Saturday, April 9th, 2011Understanding why and how proteins fold continues to be a grand challenge in science. I have described how Wrinch in 1936 made a bold proposal for the mechanism, which however flew in the face of much of then known chemistry. Linus Pauling took most of the credit (and a Nobel prize) when in a famous paper[cite]10.1073/pnas.37.4.205[/cite] in 1951 he suggested a mechanism that involved (inter alia) the formation of what he termed α-helices. Jack Dunitz in 2001[cite]10.1002/1521-3773(20011119)40:22%3C4167::AID-ANIE4167%3E3.0.CO;2-Q[/cite] wrote a must-read article[cite]10.fgkwqb[/cite] on the topic of “Pauling’s Left-handed α-helix” (it is now known to be right handed). I thought I would revisit this famous example with a calculation of my own and here I have used the ωB97XD/6-311G(d,p) DFT procedure[cite]10.1021/ct100469b[/cite] to calculate some of the energy components of a small helix comprising (ala)6 in both left and right handed form.
A comparison of left and right handed DNA double-helix models.
Saturday, January 1st, 2011When Watson and Crick (WC) constructed their famous 3D model for DNA, they had to decide whether to make the double helix left or right handed. They chose a right-handed turn, on the grounds that their attempts at left-handed models all “violated permissible van der Waals contacts“. No details of what these might have been were given in their original full article (or the particular base-pairs which led to the observation). This follow-up to my earlier post explores this aspect, using a computer model.
The conformation of 1,2-difluoroethane
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010Here I offer another spin-off from writing a lecture course on conformational analysis. This is the famous example of why 1,2-difluoroethane adopts a gauche rather than antiperiplanar conformation.
The gauche and antiperiplanar conformations of 1,2-difluoroethane