Tetrel bonds and conformational equilibria in the formamide-CO2 complex: a rotational study

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2019 Mar 27;21(13):7016-7020. doi: 10.1039/c9cp00055k.

Abstract

The rotational spectra of the complex formamide-CO2 have been measured and assigned by pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Two isomers of the complex have been detected where a CO tetrel bond dominates the interactions, and either N-HO or C-HO forms a secondary linkage. Bader's quantum theory of atoms in molecules and Johnson's non-covalent interaction analyses were applied to unveil the intermolecular binding sites and energetic properties in the complex. Relative intensity measurements on a set of μa-type transitions allowed estimating the relative population of the observed two isomers as NI/NII ≈ 18/1.