Fh. Allen et al., CARBONYL-CARBONYL INTERACTIONS CAN BE COMPETITIVE WITH HYDROGEN-BONDS, Acta crystallographica. Section B, Structural science, 54, 1998, pp. 320-329
The geometries and attractive energies of carbonyl-carbonyl interactio
ns have been investigated using crystallographic data and ab initio mo
lecular-orbital calculations. Analysis of crystallographic data for 90
49 carbon-substituted >C=O groups shows that 1328 (15%) form contacts
with other >C=O groups, in which d(C...O) < 3.6 Angstrom. Three common
interaction motifs are observed in crystal structures: (a) a slightly
sheared antiparallel motif (650 instances) involving a pair of short
C O interactions, together with (b) a perpendicular motif (116 instanc
es) and (c) a highly sheared parallel motif (130 instances), which bot
h involve a single short C O interaction. Together, these motifs accou
nt for 945 (71%) of the observed interactions. Ab-initio-based molecul
ar-orbital calculations (6-31G* basis sets), using intermolecular per
turbation theory (IMPT) applied to a bis-propanone dimer model, yield
an attractive interaction energy of -22.3 kJ mol(-1) for a perfect rec
tangular antiparallel dimer having both d(C...O) = 3.02 Angstrom and a
ttractive energies < -20 kJ mol(-1) over the d(C...O) range 2.92-3.32
Angstrom. These energies are comparable to those of medium-strength hy
drogen bonds. The IMPT calculations indicate a slight shearing of the
antiparallel motif with increasing d(C O). For the perpendicular motif
, IMPT yields an attractive interaction energy of -7.6 kJ mol(-1) comp
arable in strength to a C-H...O hydrogen bond and with the single d(C.
..O) again at 3.02 Angstrom.