FT-IR, FT-Raman vibrational spectra and molecular structure investigation of 2-chloro-4-methylaniline: A combined experimental and theoretical study

In this work, the experimental and theoretical vibrational spectra of 2-chloro-4-methylaniline (2Cl4MA, C7H8NCl) were studied. FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of 2Cl4MA in the liquid phase have been recorded in the region 4000–400 cm−1 and 3500–50 cm−1, respectively. The structural and spectroscopic data of the molecule in the ground state have been calculated by using Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional method (B3LYP) with the 6-31G(d), 6-31G(d,p), 6-31+G(d,p), 6-31++G(d,p) and 6-311G(d), 6-311G(d,p), 6-311+G(d,p), 6-311++G(d,p) basis sets. The vibrational frequencies have been calculated and scaled values have been compared with experimental FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra. The observed and calculated frequencies are found to be in good agreement. The complete assignments were performed on the basis of the total energy distribution (TED) of the vibrational modes, calculated with scaled quantum mechanics (SQM) method. The DFT-B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) calculations have been found more reliable than the ab initio HF/6-311++G(d,p) calculations for the vibrational study of 2Cl4MA. The optimized geometric parameters (bond lengths and bond angles) were compared with experimental values of aniline and p-methylaniline molecules.