Halogen-Halogen Nonbonded Interactions

Halogen-halogen nonbonded interactions were studied for methyl halides and phenyl halides using both B3LYP and MP2 along with 6-311+G* and aug-cc-pVTZ. With the methyl halides, the linear approach was found to lead to little stabilization, whereas the "90°" approach gave 1-2 kcal/mol. This modest stabilization was due to long-range electron correlation effects. The lowest-energy arrangement had the molecules side-by-side, with the major stabilization being derived from halogen-hydrogen interactions. The results for methyl bromide were quite similar. Chlorobenzene dimer with the 90° orientation gave a small stabilization energy, but the best arrangement had the two benzene rings oriented over each other. The meta orientation of the chlorines had a lower energy than ortho or para. The dimerization energy was larger than that for two benzene rings sitting directly above each other, suggesting that whereas Cl···Cl interaction is not very important, the effect of the halogen on the electron distribution does have an effect. This suggests that much of the crystallographic results for these compounds may not be due to halogen-halogen interactions but rather the interaction between the substituted benzene rings along with crystal forces.