Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonding in Substituted Aminoalcohols.

The qualifying features of a hydrogen bond can be contentious, particularly where the hydrogen bond is due to a constrained intramolecular interaction. Indeed there is disagreement within the literature whether it is even possible for an intramolecular hydrogen bond to form between functional groups on adjacent carbon atoms. This work considers the nature of the intramolecular interaction between the OH (donor) and NH2 (acceptor) groups of 2-aminoethanol, with varying substitution at the OH carbon. Gas-phase vibrational spectra of 1-amino-2-methyl-2-propanol (BMAE) and 1-amino-2,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)-2-ethanol (BFMAE) were recorded using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and compared to literature spectra of 2-aminoethanol (AE). Based on the experimental OH-stretching frequencies, the strength of the intramolecular hydrogen bond appears to increase from AE < BMAE ≪ BFMAE. Non-covalent interaction analysis shows evidence of an intramolecular hydrogen bond in all three molecules, with the order of the strength of interaction matching that of experiment. The experimental OH-stretching vibrational frequencies were found to correlate well with the calculated kinetic energy density, suggesting that this approach can be used to estimate the strength of an intramolecular hydrogen bond.