Synergistic Spectroscopic and Computational Characterization Evidencing the Preservation or Flipping of the Hydroxyl Group of 2-Phenylethyl Alcohol upon Single and Double Hydration

Rami Rahimi, Noga Saban, Ilana Bar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Even apparently simple, obtaining and analyzing observations on molecules and clusters and unambiguously assigning their structures is challenging. We report here the first ionization-loss Raman spectra compared to quantum chemical predictions for establishing the structural preferences of hydrates of the neurotransmitters hydroxy analogue, 2-phenylethyl alcohol (PEAL). The spectra encode two monohydrates and two previously unnoticed dihydrates, consequences of water insertion and sidewise attachment to the O-H group of gauche PEALs, in PEAL-H2O and PEAL-(H2O)2, or the higher-energy gauche-trans PEAL in the latter. The electronic structures retain the stable PEAL or flip its O-H to convert the gauche-trans PEAL conformer to the global minimum-energy dihydrate. We disclose conventional and bifurcated hydrogen bonds and electron steric repulsions by noncovalent interaction analysis and correlations between the experimental O-H stretching vibrational frequencies and the O-H and H···X bond lengths and electron densities, pointing to implications on hydrate forms and our approach virtue.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)18455-18467
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume145
Issue number33
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Aug 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Catalysis
  • General Chemistry
  • Biochemistry
  • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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