Molecular properties of the chlorinated ethylenes and their epoxide metabolites

This paper has presented the initial results of a computational study of the chlorinated ethylenes and their epoxides. Particular attention was devoted to those properties which may be related to the reactivities, and specifically carcinogenicities, of these molecules. Detailed calculations of their optimum structures have been carried out, and stabilities, dipole moments, charge distributions, and epoxide C-O bond strengths were determined and have been discussed. For the epoxides, most of this information, including the structural data, has not previously been available. It is hoped that this will help to bring about a better understanding of the biological activities of the chlorinated ethylenes, and of the manner in which these activities are related to the numbers and locations of the chlorine substituents. Particularly promising in this respect are the qualitative assessments of the epoxide C-O bond strengths presented above. More quantitative measures of this key property are currently being computed.