An ab initio molecular orbital study of the structure and properties of propadienone (methyleneketene)

Abstract

Ab initio molecular orbital theory with minimal (STO-3G) and split- valence (4-31G) basis sets has been used to obtain fully optimized structures for propadienone, allene, butatriene, carbon dioxide, ketene and vinylidene. Propadienone is predicted to be a planar molecule with C2V symmetry. The systematic deficiencies of the STO-3G and 4-31G basis sets have been taken into account in deriving a complete ro structure for propadienone. A striking feature of this structure is the HCH angle (117.°) which is about 5° smaller than the corresponding angle (122.3°) in ketene. An estimate (125 kJ mol-1) of the heat of formation of propadienone is reported. The alternating dipole moment magnitudes in the series H2CO, H2CCO and H2CCCO are explained in terms of orbital interactions. Propadienone is predicted to be considerably (about 135 kJ mol-1) more stable than vinylidene+carbon monoxide but slightly (about 10-20 kJ mol-1) less stable than acetylene+carbon monoxide.