Conformational stability and intramolecular hydrogen bonding in 1,2-ethanediol and 1,4-butanediol

The gas-phase infrared spectra of 1,2-ED and 1,4-BD have been recorded at three different temperatures using a multipass gas cell of 6 m optical path length. DFT calculation has also been carried out using 6-311++G** and aug-cc-pVDZ basis sets to look for the existence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding in them from the red shift and infrared absorption intensity enhancement of the bonded O-H band compared to that of the free O-H band. Equilibrium population analysis with 10 conformers of 1,2-ED and 1,4-BD at experimental temperatures were carried out for the reconstruction of the observed vibrational spectra at that temperature using standard statistical relationships. The most abundant conformer at experimental temperatures was identified. In 1,2-ED a red shift of 45 cm(-1) in the intramolecularly interacting O-H stretching vibrational band position and no significant intensity enhancement compared to that of the free O-H have been observed. On the contrary, in one of the hydrogen-bonded conformers of 1,4-BD, a 124 cm(-1) red shift in the O-H stretching frequency and a 8.5 times intensity enhancement for the "bonded" O-H compared to that of the "free" O-H is seen. On the basis of this comparative study, we have concluded that strong intramolecular hydrogen bonding exists in 1,4-BD. But there appears to be weak intramolecular hydrogen bonding in 1,2-ED at temperatures of 303, 313, and 323 K in the gas phase. We have found that most stable hydrogen-bonded conformers of 1,4-BD are less populated than some of the non-hydrogen-bonded conformers. Even for the 1,4-BD, the relative population of the g'GG'Gt conformer, which has a strong intramolecular hydrogen bond, is less than what is predicted. Perhaps the intramolecular hydrogen bond plays a less significant role in the relative stability of the various conformers than what has been predicted from calculations and prevails in the literature.