Vibronic model for H/D isotopic “self-organization” effects in hydrogen bond cyclic trimeric systems: 4-Bromopyrazole crystal IR spectra

Abstract

In this paper, a theoretical model has been proposed, aiming to explain a new kind of H/D isotopic effects concerning hydrogen bond systems, i.e. the H/D isotopic “self-organization” effects, recently deduced from the IR spectra of molecular crystals. The problem of existence of these kinds of co-operative effects was considered in the limits of a vibronic model in the Herzberg–Teller approximation, for cyclic trimeric systems of hydrogen bonds. It was shown that non-conventional attraction forces between three identical hydrogen isotope atoms, resulting from the vibronic mechanism, are responsible for excess stabilization energy of cyclic hydrogen bond trimers. The H/D “self-organization” effects were deduced to be negligible in the case of non-symmetric HDD, or HHD-type trimers, containing both, hydrogen and deuterium bonds in one ring trimer. The symmetric trimers of the HHH and of the DDD-type should be more stable, when compared with the HDD, or the HHD-type trimer properties. This thermodynamic effect explains the IR spectral properties of molecular crystals containing cyclic trimers of hydrogen bonds in their lattices, accompanying to isotopic dilution. The results of the theoretical considerations were confronted with the IR spectra of 4-bromopyrazole crystals, which were measured in a wide temperature range (from 298 to 77 K), using polarized light, in the frequency ranges of the proton or deuterium stretching vibrations bands.