Abstract
Abstract The reliability of three popular semiempirical quantum chemical methods (AM1, PM3, MNDO) for the treatment of tautomeric equilibria is tested in a series of five-membered nitrogen heterocycles. The known flaw of MNDO to overestimate the stability of compounds with two or more adjacent pyridine-like lone pairs is also present in AM1 and to a somewhat lesser extent in PM3. Tautomeric species differing in the number of adjacent pyridine-like lone pairs, thus, cannot be adequately treated by these semiempirical methods. Both AM1 as well as PM3, however, represent major improvements over MNDO in the case of lactam-lactim tautomerism. The stability of N-oxides as compared to N-hydroxy tautomers seems to be overestimated by the PM3 method. All three semiempirical methods yield quite reliable ionization potentials and dipole moments.
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