Charge distributions and chemical effects. XXIV. On the role of vibrational energies in determining molecular stabilities

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A simple equation has been derived for calculating accurate ZPE + HT − H0 (zero-point and heat content) energies of saturated hydrocarbons from their enthalpies of formation and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. Applications to conformational analysis indicate a near invariance of vibrational energies with respect to chair–boat conformational changes of the cyclohexane ring, the loss in molecular stability arising then from a weakening of the chemical binding due to a reorganization of the electronic charges. The origin of the destabilizing effect of butane gauche interactions is found, in the cyclohexane series, in a weakening of the chemical binding (∼1.85 kcal/mol) which is partially compensated by a lowering (∼0.85 kcal/mol) vibrational energy, thus offering an explanation for the loss in molecular stability of ∼1.00 kcal/mol for one gauche interaction without invoking Coulomb-type repulsions between non-bonded atoms. Calculated enthalpies of formation are presentd for a number of cycloalkanes.