Theoretical investigations on vibrational spectra of pillar[5]arene-bis(pyridinium) complexes

Electronic structure and vibrational spectra of pillar[5]arene (P5) complexes with bis(pyridinium) derivatives viz., 1,2-ethylenedipyridine (edpy), 1,2-propylenedipyridine (3-pdpy), 1,2-butylenedipyridine (bdpy), 1,2-pentamethylenedipyridine (pdpy) and 1,2-hexamethylenedipyridine (hdpy) are investigated employing density functional theory. B3LYP based density functional calculations predicted that interaction energies for complexation decreases steadily with increasing alkyl chain of bis(pyridinium) guest. The calculations have shown that O-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonded and non-bonded hydroxyls in the host led to distinct vibrations at the 3515 cm(-1) and 3681 cm(-1), respectively in the vibrational spectra. Complexation of bis(pyridinium) guest engenders frequency down-shift for aromatic C-H-alpha, vibrations owing to C-H center dot center dot center dot O interactions with P5 portals. Moreover, C-H center dot center dot center dot pi interactions are inferred in edpy@P5 and 3-pdpy@P5 complexes which results in frequency up-shift (blue shift) of nearly 22-15 cm(-1) for the corresponding C-H-alpha vibration. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.