Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026

Construction and Systematical Symmetric Studies of a Series of Supramolecular Clusters with Binary or Ternary Ammonium Triphenylacetates
Published on: February 15, 2016
Hydrogen bonding characteristics of 2-pyrrolidinone: a joint experimental and theoretical study
Kiran Sankar Maiti1, Andriy Samsonyuk, Christoph Scheurer
1Lehrstuhl für Physikalische Chemie, Technische Universität München, D-85747 Garching, Germany. kiran.maiti@ch.tum.de
Abstract:
The mid-IR spectrum of the hydrogen bonding lactam 2-pyrrolidinone in CCl(4) was studied using FT-IR spectroscopy accompanied by a quantum chemical anharmonic normal mode analysis combined with a Monte Carlo approach based on semi-empirical harmonic frequencies. We characterized and assigned the spectroscopic features in the range from 1500 cm(-1) to 3600 cm(-1) covering the respective amide bands related to hydrogen bonding CO and NH groups as well as the backbone CH vibrational band. By comparing theory and experiment we are able to assign all mid-IR features to a variety of distinct structures of 2-pyrrolidinone, ranging from monomers, singly and doubly hydrogen bonded dimers to longer hydrogen-bonded chains. These chains account for the most prominent features in the IR spectrum. Furthermore, two peaks in the CH band have been identified as highly localized axial and equatorial C-H stretch vibrations qualified for probes of conformational dynamics. The results provide a detailed microscopic picture of 2-pyrrolidinone in solution, helpful for further dynamical structure studies of this amide.
Related Concept Videos
Hydrogen Bonds
Hydrogen Bonds
Hydrogen Bonds Control the World!
Because hydrogen has very weak electronegativity when it binds with a strongly electronegative atom, such as oxygen or nitrogen, electrons in the bond are unequally shared.
Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals II
Basicity of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines
π Molecular Orbitals of 1,3-Butadiene
The simplest conjugated diene is 1,3-butadiene: a four-carbon system where each carbon is sp2-hybridized and has an unhybridized p orbital that contains an unpaired electron. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals such that the number...
Five-Membered Heterocyclic Aromatic Compounds: Overview

