Building upon the observation first made in Anthony Legon’s laboratory during the early 2000’s that comparisons among the complexes formed between protic acids and vinyl fluoride could provide information concerning the strength of intermolecular interactions, we began a systematic characterization of the molecular structures of complexes formed between three protic acids (hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride, and acetylene) and polar haloethylenes. In this study we seek to unravel the nature of the intermolecular interactions in these heterodimers. Structural information is combined with results obtained from quantum chemistry calculations as well as chemical intuition to develop a fuller appreciation of the competition between electrostatic forces and steric effects in determining the lowest energy configuration for the heterodimer. Our work with these species has not only allowed us to investigate fundamental questions regarding intermolecular interactions, but obtaining and analyzing the spectra of these complexes along with those of the various haloethylene monomers and their complexes with the argon atom have provided an introduction to molecular spectroscopy and structure determination for many undergraduate students.

Using gas-phase protic acid–haloethylene heterodimer structures to explore noncovalent bonding

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

[Author Benefits](https://scimeetings.acs.org/?utm_source=pubs_content_marketing&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=0320_MCF_NPI_Launch_Spring_Homepage&ref=pubs_content_marketing)

[How to use SciMeetings](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMeetings-ACSSpring2020-HowToGuide_M3020-Final.pdf)

[Frequently Asked Questions](https://storage.googleapis.com/dl.morressier.com/acs/SciMtng_ACSNMSp2020_FAQ_M3120_Final.pdf)

ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.