Molecular and crystal structures and spectroscopic properties of 2-oxo-2-(Thiophen-2-yl) ethyl phosphonic acid

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A new phosphonic acid, (2-oxo-2-(thiophen-2-yl)ethyl) phosphonic acid (OTEPA), was synthesized and its molecular and crystal structures investigated using several experimental techniques complemented by different types of calculations. The experimental techniques used include infrared and Raman spectroscopies and single crystal X-ray crystallography. Calculations were performed at both molecular mechanics and DFT(B3LYP)/6–311++G(d,p) levels of approximation, for the isolated molecule. The conformational space of OTEPA was investigated and the most stable conformers characterized both structurally and spectroscopically. It was found that in the lower energy conformers of OTEPA an intramolecular H-bond exists between one of the OH groups of the phosphonic acid fragment and the carbonyl oxygen atom. The two lowest energy conformers have the sulphur atom of the thiophene ring eclipsed with the carbonyl oxygen atom, allowing for the establishment of an O⋯S stabilizing contact, similar to the N⋯S type contact found previously in other molecular systems. Noteworthy, in the crystalline phase the OTEPA molecules do not assume one of the most stable conformations for the isolated molecule, but exist in a conformation similar to that of high-energy conformers, which have predicted energies relative to the conformational ground state higher than 13 kJ mol−1. The infrared spectra of the monomeric molecules of the compound isolated in a low temperature solid argon matrix and of the crystal of the neat compound were also investigated and assigned, together with the Raman spectrum of the crystalline compound.