Dielectric studies of hydrogen bonded complexes of alcohols with nitriles

Among short-range molecular interactions, the molecular complexes formed by hydrogen bond attracted the attention to understand the nature of the bond. Theoretical studies concluded that redistribution of charges due to polarization and charge transfer effects accompanies the molecular interaction. This phenomenon of charge redistribution can be related to the changes in the dipole moment of the complex systems to those of isolated molecules. The dipole moments of 1:1 complexes of acetonitrile and acrylonitrile with o-cresol in benzene and ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol in 1,4 dioxan were determined at 308 K using Huyskens method based on Onsager's theory. The dipolar increments for these systems were computed from the bond angle data available from molecular orbital studies. Our results show that the polarization interaction dominates in all the complexes studied and no higher order complexation is indicated. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.