Hydrogen bonding and Hirshfeld surface analysis of gallic acid and its monohydrate based on terahertz spectroscopy

Abstract

The terahertz (THz) spectroscopy of gallic acid (GA) and gallic acid monohydrate (GAMD) in the frequency range of 0.2–3.0 THz were investigated using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system. The THz absorption spectrum of GAMD exhibited a red-shift compared to that of GA. To resolve the absorption spectra of the two substances, density functional theory (DFT) was employed to calculate and simulate the theoretical spectra of the two substances in this frequency range, while the vibration mode automatic relevance determination (VMARD) method combined with GaussView and VMD software was utilized to determine the origin of each absorption peak. Additionally, Hirshfeld surface analysis and the Atoms-in-Molecules (AIM) topological analysis were conducted to explore the intermolecular interactions between GA and GAMD. The results revealed that the characteristic absorption peaks of both GA and GAMD are attributed to overall atomic and molecular motions, whereas those of GAMD are accompanied by water molecule translation. Furthermore, H…O/O…H hydrogen bonding was identified as the main contributor to the interaction between GA and GAMD. The addition of water molecules led to differentiation in the position and strength of intermolecular interactions; specifically, hydrogen bonding in GA primarily involved the carboxyl group with the hydroxyl group, while hydrogen bonding in GAMD occurred between the water molecule and the hydroxyl group of the central molecule.