Blue and red shifts in Rg···HCN and Rg···HNC complexes (Rg=He, Ne, Ar, Kr)

Abstract

The shift in the harmonic vibrational frequency of the H–C stretch of HCN on formation of the linear Rg···HCN complexes, and of the H–N stretch of HNC on the formation of Rg···HNC complexes (Rg = He, Ne, Ar, Kr), has been determined by ab initio computations. These shifts are in agreement with predictions from a model based on perturbation theory and involving the first and second derivatives of the interaction energy with respect to displacement of the H–C (H–N) bond length from its equilibrium value in the monomer. Small blue shifts were obtained for He···HCN, Ne···HCN and He···HNC, while red shifts were obtained for the other weakly bound complexes. These vibrational characteristics are rationalized by considering the balance between the interaction energy derivatives obtained from the perturbative model. For all complexes, the IR intensity of the H–C or H–N stretch was increased from the isolated monomer values on complexation.