Complexes Van-der-Waals

Spectroscopy is the most important experimental source of infomiation on intemiolecular interactions. A wide range of spectroscopic teclmiques is being brought to bear on the problem of weakly bound or van der Waals complexes [94, 95]. Molecular beam microwave spectroscopy, pioneered by Klemperer and refined by Flygare, has been used to detemiine the microwave spectra of a large number of weakly bound complexes and obtain stmctiiral infomiation... 

Jeziorski B, Moszynski R and Szalewicz K 1994 Perturbation theory approach to intermolecular potential energy surfaces of van der Waals complexes Chem. Rev. 94 1887... 

Structure and dynamics of van der Waals complexes Faraday Disc. 97... 

Truhlar D G (ed) 1984 Resonances in Electron-Molecule Scattering, van der Waals Complexes, and Reactive Chemical Dynamics (ACS Symp. Ser. 263) (Washington, DC American Chemical Society)... 

Cohen R C and Saykally R J 1991 Multidimensional intermolecular potential surfaces from VRT spectra of van der Waals complexes Ann. Rev. Rhys. Ohem. 42 369-92... 

Van der Waals complexes can be observed spectroscopically by a variety of different teclmiques, including microwave, infrared and ultraviolet/visible spectroscopy. Their existence is perhaps the simplest and most direct demonstration that there are attractive forces between stable molecules. Indeed the spectroscopic properties of Van der Waals complexes provide one of the most detailed sources of infonnation available on intennolecular forces, especially in the region around the potential minimum. The measured rotational constants of Van der Waals complexes provide infonnation on intennolecular distances and orientations, and the frequencies of bending and stretching vibrations provide infonnation on how easily the complex can be distorted from its equilibrium confonnation. In favourable cases, the whole of the potential well can be mapped out from spectroscopic data. 

A few Van der Waals complexes have been observed using the analogous teclmique of molecular beam magnetic resonance, in which the molecules are focused using a magnetic rather than an electric field. 

The use of isotopic substitution to detennine stmctures relies on the assumption that different isotopomers have the same stmcture. This is not nearly as reliable for Van der Waals complexes as for chemically bound molecules. In particular, substituting D for H in a hydride complex can often change the amplitudes of bending vibrations substantially under such circumstances, the idea that the complex has a single stmcture is no longer appropriate and it is necessary to think instead of motion on the complete potential energy surface a well defined equilibrium stmcture may still exist, but knowledge of it does not constitute an adequate description of the complex. 

It is also possible to measure microwave spectra of some more strongly bound Van der Waals complexes in a gas cell ratlier tlian a molecular beam. Indeed, tire first microwave studies on molecular clusters were of this type, on carboxylic acid dimers [jd]. The resolution tliat can be achieved is not as high as in a molecular beam, but bulk gas studies have tire advantage tliat vibrational satellites, due to pure rotational transitions in complexes witli intennolecular bending and stretching modes excited, can often be identified. The frequencies of tire vibrational satellites contain infonnation on how the vibrationally averaged stmcture changes in tire excited states, while their intensities allow tire vibrational frequencies to be estimated. 

The intennolecular bending and stretching vibrations of Van der Waals complexes typically have wave-numbers... 

The earliest molecular beam infrared experiments on Van der Waals complexes used photodissociation spectroscopy a molecular beam is irradiated witli a tunable infrared laser and tire molecular beam intensity is measured as a function of... 

Most infrared spectroscopy of complexes is carried out in tire mid-infrared, which is tire region in which tire monomers usually absorb infrared radiation. Van der Waals complexes can absorb mid-infrared radiation eitlier witli or without simultaneous excitation of intennolecular bending and stretching vibrations. The mid-infrared bands tliat contain tire most infonnation about intennolecular forces are combination bands, in which tire intennolecular vibrations are excited. Such spectra map out tire vibrational and rotational energy levels associated witli monomers in excited vibrational states and, tluis, provide infonnation on interaction potentials involving excited monomers, which may be slightly different from Arose for ground-state molecules. 

The Ar-HCl and Ar-HF Van der Waals complexes were among the first to be detected experimentally, by the observation of weak peaks lying between the vibration-rotation lines of HCl and HF in mixtures with rare gases as... 

One of the motivations for studying Van der Waals complexes and clusters is that they are floppy systems with similarities to the transition states of chemical reactions. This can be taken one stage further by studying clusters that actually are precursors for chemical reactions, and can be broken up to make more than one set of products. A good example of this is H2-OH, which can in principle dissociate to fonn either H2 + OH or H2O + H. Indeed, dissociation to H2 O -t H is energetically favoured the reaction H2 + OH—> H2 O -t H is exothennic by about 5000... 

Hutson J M 1990 Intermoleoular forces from the spectroscopy of Van der Waals complexes Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 41 123-54... 

This is illustrated in Figure 17.1. The energies of the van der Waals complexes are a better description of the separated species for describing liquid-phase reactions. The energies of the products separated by large distances are generally more relevant to gas-phase reactions. 

Weak interactions, such as van der Waals complexes or hydrogen bonds, are poorly predicted. Either the interaction is too weak, or the minimum energy geometry is wrong. 

Borane, 1-methylbenzylaminocyanohydropyrrolyl-, 3, 84 Borane, thiocyanato-halogenohydro-, 3,88 Borane, trialkoxy-amine complexes, 3, 88 Borane, triaryl-guanidine complexes, 2,283 Borane, trifluoro-complexes Lewis acids, 3,87 van der Waals complexes, 3, 84 Borane complexes aminecarboxy-, 3,84 aminehalogeno-, 3, 84 amines, 3, 82, 101 B-N bond polarity, 3, 82 preparation, 3, 83 reactions, 3, 83 bonds B-N, 3, 88 B-O, 3, 88 B-S, 3, 88 Jt bonds, 3, 82 carbon monoxide, 3, 84 chiral boron, 3, 84 dimethyl sulfide, 3, 84 enthalpy of dissociation, 3, 82... 

In sharp contrast to the stable [H2S. .SH2] radical cation, the isoelectron-ic neutral radicals [H2S.. SH] and [H2S. .C1] are very weakly-bound van der Waals complexes [125]. Furthermore, the unsymmetrical [H2S.. C1H] radical cation is less strongly bound than the symmetrical [H2S.. SH2] ion. The strength of these three-electron bonds was explained in terms of the overlap between the donor HOMO and radical SOMO. In a systematic study of a series of three-electron bonded radical cations [126], Clark has shown that the three-electron bond energy of [X.. Y] decreases exponentially with AIP, the difference between the ionisation potentials (IP) of X and Y. As a consequence, many of the known three-electron bonds are homonuclear, or at least involve two atoms of similar IP. 

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