Comprehensive DFT and MO studies on glyoxilic acid oxime and related ions in gas phase and solution: Conformations, basicities and acidities

Density functional (BLYP, B3LYP and BHLYP) and highly correlated MP2 and CCSD(T) calculations have been performed to investigate conformers, energy barriers, intramolecular H-bond strength, gas-phase basicity and deprotonation energies of glyoxilic acid oxime (gao) and related ions in gas phase and in aqueous solution (SCRF-PCM method). BHLYP/6-311G(d,p) and B3LYP/6-31++G(d) predictions for the global minimum conformer of gao were consistent with experiment. BLYP level overestimated the H-bond and stabilized incorrectly the H-bonded conformer. The calculations in solution indicated destabilization of H-bonded conformers due to the small polarizability and weaken of the H-bond. The same global minimum structures in gas phase and aqueous solution were found for gao-neutral (ectt) and gao-dianion (e−2), whereas they were different for gao-anion because of the strong decrease of the conformational energies in solution. The global minimum structures of the neutral, anion and dianion of gao, obtained in solution, are in agreement with experiment. The gas-phase basicity (GB) and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) calculations revealed the same sites for electrophilic attack, supported by the nature of HOMO: the carbonylic oxygen for the neutral, the carboxylic oxygen for the anion and the oxime nitrogen for the dianion. MEP results in gas phase and in solution suggested a region between the two atoms, but not on one atom in accordance with bidentate binding of gao ions to a metal. The BHLYP/6-31++G(d,p) molecular properties of gao were in best consistent with CCSD(T) results. The thermodynamical properties (GB and bond deprotonation energy) of gao were better estimated at B3LYP level.