Statistical thermodynamics of 1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, and butanal

The purpose of the present investigation is to calculate partition functions and thermodynamic quantities, viz., entropy, enthalpy, heat capacity, and Gibbs free energies, for 1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol, and butanal in the vapor phase. We employed the multi-structural (MS) anharmonicity method and electronic structure calculations including both explicitly correlated coupled cluster theory and density functional theory. The calculations are performed using all structures for each molecule and employing both the local harmonic approximation (MS-LH) and the inclusion of torsional anharmonicity (MS-T). The results obtained from the MS-T calculations are in excellent agreement with experimental data taken from the Thermodynamics Research Center data series and the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, where available. They are also compared with Benson's empirical group additivity values, where available; in most cases, the present results are more accurate than the group additivity values. In other cases, where experimental data (but not group additivity values) are available, we also obtain good agreement with experiment. This validates the accuracy of the electronic structure calculations when combined with the MS-T method for estimating the thermodynamic properties of systems with multiple torsions, and it increases our confidence in the predictions made with this method for molecules and temperatures where experimental or empirical data are not available.