Experimental (Raman and IR) and computational (DFT, MP2) studies of the conformational diversity of 1-chloromethyl-1-fluorosilacyclopentane molecule

Abstract

1-chloromethyl-1-fluorosilacyclopentane (1-ClM-1-FSiCP) was synthesized for the first time and investigated by means of vibrational spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. FT-IR and Raman spectroscopic methods were implemented to collect vibrational spectra of 1-ClM-1-FSiCP. The conformational analysis was performed utilizing FT-IR matrix isolation technique and theoretical methods such as density functional theory and ab initio calculations. The spectra of the 1-ClM-1-FSiCP isolated in the argon and nitrogen matrices, were collected before and after the annealing process. During the conformational analysis the envelope (E) and twisted (T) ring shapes with the position of the fluorine atom and chloromethyl group in terms of axial/equatorial and cis/trans/gauche-/gauche+ positions were investigated utilizing MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ and DFT/B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ level of theory. Results indicate three stable conformers: twisted trans (global energy minimum), twisted gauche– and twisted gauche+. The potential energy surface scans were performed to trace the energy changes and the presence of transition state structures during ring conversion and rotation of the CH2Cl group.