FTIR and FTRaman spectra, assignments, ab initio HF and DFT analysis of 4-nitrotoluene

In this work, the experimental and theoretical study on molecular structure and vibrational spectra of 4-nitrotoluene are studied. The FTIR and FTRaman experimental spectra of the molecule have been recorded in the range of 4000–100 cm−1. Making use of the recorded data, the complete vibrational assignments are made and analysis of the observed fundamental bands of molecule is carried out. The experimental determinations of vibrational frequencies are compared with those obtained theoretically from ab initio HF and DFT quantum mechanical calculations using HF/6-31G (d, p), B3LYP/6-31++G* (d, p) and B3LYP/6-311++G* (d, p) methods. The differences between the observed and scaled wave number values of most of the fundamentals are very small in B3LYP than HF. The geometries and normal modes of vibrations obtained from ab initio HF and B3LYP calculations are in good agreement with the experimentally observed data. Comparison of the simulated spectra provides important information about the ability of the computational method (B3LYP) to describe the vibrational modes. The vibrations of NO2 and CH3 groups coupled with skeletal vibrations are also investigated.