Weakly Bound Complexes of γ-Butyrolactone with Water as Observed in Matrix Isolation FTIR and Theoretical...

A computational and spectroscopic analysis of weakly bound complexes of 1:1 γ-butyrolactone with water has been completed. In this work, multiple density-functional theories and perturbation theory were used to explore the energy-landscape of the complex. Four unique structures were identified in this analysis. One structure was characterized by the formation of a water to carbonyl hydrogen bond and the other three were formed from water to ester hydrogen bonds. The carbonyl-bound conformation was found to be the global minimum across a comprehensive panel of calculations. A wave function analysis demonstrated that the structures were additionally stabilized by weak van der Waals interactions. FTIR spectroscopy of matrix-isolated samples indicated the presence of at least two of the calculated geometries. The structures were identified to be a carbonyl-bound and at least one ester-bound structure. The transitions identified for the carbonyl-bound complex were noted to be significantly more intense than those of the ester bound, indicating greater prevalence in the matrix.