p-benzoquinone-benzene clusters as potential nanomechanical devices: A theoretical study

Abstract

The equilibrium structures and binding energies of the benzene complexes of p-benzoquinones (PBQ) and its negatively charged anionic species (PBQ(-) and PBQ(2-)) have been investigated theoretically using second-order Moller-Plesset calculations. While neutral p-benzoquinone-benzene clusters (PBQ-Bz) prefer to have a parallel displaced geometry (P-c), CH...pi interactions (T-shaped geometries) prevail in the di-anionic PBQ-benzene (PBQ(2-)-Bz) complexes (T-e(2-)). Studies on dianionic p-benzoquinone-benzene clusters showed that two nonbonded intermolecular interactions compete in the most stable conformation. One is H-bonding interaction (C-H...O type) between carbonyl oxygen of p-benzoquinone and one of the hydrogen atoms of benzene, and the other is a pi-H interaction between pi-electron cloud of PBQ(2-) and another hydrogen atom of benzene. Blueshifted H-bonds were observed in T-shaped clusters. The changes in the geometrical preference of PBQ-Bz complex upon addition of electrons would be useful in designing optimized molecular mechanical devices based on the edge-to-face and face-to-face aromatic interactions. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.