Molecular structure, vibrational spectra, NBO analysis, first hyperpolarizability, and HOMO, LUMO studies of mesityl chloride by density functional methods

The FT-IR and FT-Raman vibrational spectra of mesityl chloride (2,4,6-trimethylbenzyl chloride) were recorded. The optimized geometry and wavenumbers in the ground state were calculated using density functional (B3LYP, and B3PW91) methods with standard 6-311G(d,p) basis set. The computed B3PW91/6-311G(d,p) results show the best agreement with the experimental values over the other methods. Natural bond orbital analysis of mesityl chloride is also carried out, which confirms the occurrence of strong intermolecular bonding, stability of the molecule arising from hyperconjugative interactions, and charge delocalization. The electric dipole moment (μ), polarizability (α), and first hyperpolarizability (β0) which results also show that the mesityl chloride might have microscopic non-linear optical behavior with non-zero values. The calculated HOMO and LUMO energies show that charge transfer occur in the molecule. The results of the calculations were applied to simulated spectra of the title compound, which show excellent agreement with observed spectra.

► Mesityl chloride derivatives exhibit important biological properties.
► The FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra of mesityl chloride were studied.
► The calculations were carried out for mesityl chloride at B3LYP/B3PW91/6-311G(d,p).
► A comparison with the IR and Raman spectra of mesityl chloride have been reported.
► NBO, hyperpolarizabilities, Mulliken charges and HOMO–LUMO energies were performed.