Vibrational assignment, structure and intramolecular hydrogen bond study of 3-amino-1-phenyl-2-buten-1-one

Fourier transform infrared and Fourier transform Raman spectra of 3-amino-1-phenyl-2-buten-1-one and its deuterated analogue were recorded in the regions 400-4000 and 150-4000 cm−1, respectively. Furthermore, the molecular structure and vibrational frequencies of title compound were investigated by a series of density functional theoretical, DFT, and ab initio calculations at the post-Hartree-Fock (MP2) level. Although, the calculated frequencies are generally in agreement with the observed spectra but the DFT results are in much better quantitative agreement with the observed spectra than the MP2 results. The observed wavenumbers were analyzed and assigned to different normal modes of vibration of the molecule. The calculated geometrical parameters show a strong intramolecular hydrogen bond with a N⋯O distance of 2.621-2.668 Å. This bond length is shorter than that of its parent, 4-amino-3-penten-2-one (with two methyl groups in the β-position), which is in agreement with spectroscopic results. The topological properties of the electron density contributions for intramolecular hydrogen bond in 3-amino-1-phenyl-2-buten-1-one and 4-amino-3-penten-2-one have been analyzed in term of the Bader theory of atoms in molecules (AIM). These results also support the stronger hydrogen bond in the title compound with respect to the parent molecule.