Interplay between hydrogen-bond formation and multicenter pi-electron delocalization: intramolecular hydrogen bonds

The specific case of intramolecular hydrogen bonds assisted by pi-electron delocalization is thoroughly investigated using multicenter delocalization analysis. The effect of the pi-electron delocalization on the intramolecular hydrogen-bond strength is determined by means of the relative molecular energies of "open" and "closed" structures, calculated at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. These relative energies are compared to variations in the multicenter electron delocalization indices and covalent hydrogen-bond indices, which are shown to correlate very well with the relative strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bonds studied. The multicenter electron delocalization indices and covalent bond indices have been computed using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules approach. The hydrogen bonds are formed with oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur as acceptor atom, which are also the atoms considered to be bonded to the donor hydrogen. Malonaldehyde is taken as reference; the substitution of oxygen by other atoms at the acceptor and donor positions and the effect of the aromaticity have been studied. The results shown here match perfectly with the qualitative expectations derived from the resonance models. In addition, they provide a quantitative picture of the role played by the pi-electron delocalization on the relative strength of intramolecular hydrogen bonds.