The effect of intramolecular interactions on hydrogen bond acidity

DFT calculations on a range of molecules containing intramolecular hydrogen bonds are reported, with a view to establishing how intramolecular hydrogen bonding affects their intermolecular interactions. It is shown that properties such as the energy of the intramolecular H-bond are unrelated to the ability to form external H-bonds. Conversely, several properties of complexes with a reference base correlate well with an experimental scale of H-bond acidity, and accurate predictive models are determined. A more detailed study, using electrostatic and overlap properties of complexes with a reference base, is used to predict the location, as well as strength, of hydrogen bond acidity. The effects of intramolecular hydrogen bonding on acidity can be seen not just on O-H and N-H, where acidity is greatly reduced, but also on certain C-H groups, which in some cases become the primary source of acidity.