Characterizing traditional and chlorine-shared halogen bonds in complexes of phosphine derivatives with ClF and Cl2

Ab initio MP2/aug'-cc-pVTZ calculations have been carried out on the halogen-bonded complexes H2XP:ClF and H2XP:Cl2, with X = F, Cl, OH, NC, CN, CCH, CH3, and H. H2XP:ClF complexes are stabilized by chlorine-shared halogen bonds with short P-Cl and significantly elongated Cl-F distances. H2XP:Cl2 complexes with X = OH and CH3 form only chlorine-shared halogen bonds, while those with X = H, NC, and CN form only traditional halogen bonds. On the H2FP:Cl2, H2(CCH)P:Cl2, and H2ClP:Cl2 potential surfaces small barriers separate two equilibrium structures, one with a traditional halogen bond and the other with a chlorine-shared bond. The binding energies of H2XP:ClF and H2XP:Cl2 complexes are influenced by the electron-donating ability of H2XP and the electron accepting ability of ClF and ClCl, the nature of the halogen bond, other secondary interactions, and charge-transfer interactions. Changes in electron populations on P, F, and Cl upon complex formation do not correlate with changes in the chemical shieldings of these atoms. EOM-CCSD spin-spin coupling constants for complexes with chlorine-shared halogen bonds do not exhibit the usual dependencies on distance. (2X)J(P-F) and (2X)J(P-Cl) for complexes with chlorine-shared halogen bonds do not correlate with P-F and P-Cl distances, respectively. (1X)J(P-Cl) values for H2XP:ClF correlate best with the Cl-F distance, and approach the values of (1)J(P-Cl) for the corresponding cations H2XPCl(+). Values of (1X)J(P-Cl) for complexes H2XP:ClCl with chlorine-shared halogen bonds correlate with the binding energies of these complexes. (1)J(F-Cl) and (1)J(Cl-Cl) for complexes with chlorine-shared halogen bonds correlate linearly with the distance between P and the proximal Cl atom. In contrast, (2X)J(P-Cl) and (1X)J(P-Cl) for complexes with traditional halogen bonds exhibit more normal distance dependencies.