Unveiling the Sulfur–Sulfur Bridge: Accurate Structural and Energetic Characterization of a Homochalcogen Intermolecular Bond

Abstract

AbstractBy combining rotational spectroscopy in supersonic expansion with the capability of state‐of‐the‐art quantum‐chemical computations in accurately determining structural and energetic properties, the genuine nature of a sulfur–sulfur chalcogen bond between dimethyl sulfide and sulfur dioxide has been unveiled in a gas‐jet environment free from collision, solvent and matrix perturbations. A SAPT analysis pointed out that electrostatic S⋅⋅⋅S interactions play the dominant role in determining the stability of the complex, largely overcoming dispersion and C−H⋅⋅⋅O hydrogen‐bond contributions. Indeed, in agreement with the analysis of the quadrupole‐coupling constants and of the methyl internal rotation barrier, the NBO and NOCV/CD approaches show a marked charge transfer between the sulfur atoms. Based on the assignment of the rotational spectra for 7 isotopologues, an accurate semi‐experimental equilibrium structure for the heavy‐atom backbone of the molecular complex has been determined, which is characterized by a S⋅⋅⋅S distance (2.947(3) Å) well below the sum of van der Waals radii.