Article
pubs.acs.org/JPCB
Rigid Single Carbon−Carbon Bond That Does Not Rotate in Water
Manuel Gadogbe,† Yadong Zhou,‡ Shengli Zou,*,‡ and Dongmao Zhang*,†
†
Department of Chemistry, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi 39762, United States
Department of Chemistry, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816, United States
‡
S Supporting Information
*
ABSTRACT: Carbon−carbon bond is one of the most ubiquitous molecular building blocks
for natural and man-made materials. Rotational isomerization is fundamentally important for
understanding the structure and reactivity of chemical and biological molecules. Reported
herein is the first demonstration that a single C−C bond does not rotate in water. The two
distal C−S bonds in both 1,2-ethanedithiolate (−S−CH2−CH2−S−, 1,2-EDT2−) and 2,3butanedithiolate (2,3-BuDT2−) are exclusively in the trans conformer with reference to their
respective center single C−C bond. In contrast, both trans and gauche conformers are observed
in neutral 1,2-ethanedithiol (1,2-EDT) and 2, 3-butanedithiol (2,3-BuDT). The insight from
this work should be important for understanding the charge effect on the molecular
conformation in aqueous solutions.
concentrations we explored. This is to our knowledge the first
demonstration that a single carbon−carbon bond does not
undergo rotational isomerization.
1,2-EDT2− and 2, 3-BuDT2− are ideal model molecules for
studying the charge effect on the C−C rotation. First, they are
the simplest molecules that contain a monatomic ion directly
connected to each side of a single C−C bond. The singly
charged sulfides are separated only by three covalent bonds,
which is the shortest charge separation one can imagine for
studying the effect of the intramolecular electrostatic
interaction on the rotational isomerization of a chemical
bond. Second, as an alkanethiol derivative, the 1,2-EDT and
2,3-BuDT structure and conformation can be readily
determined using Raman spectroscopic measurements. This is
because S−H stretching Raman intensity serves as a measure of
the degree of dithiol ionization, while the peak position of C−S
stretching Raman feature is sensitive to the dithiol conformation.
INTRODUCTION
The carbon−carbon single bond is likely the most common
molecular building block in chemical and biological molecules.
The C−C rotation produces large number of rotational isomers
that differ in their molecular conformations. As an example, the
rotations of single C−C and C−N bonds in combination with
other intramolecular forces are responsible for the protein
folding and unfolding.1,2 Numerous experimental and computational works have been dedicated to the fundamental
understanding of the C−C rotation. Dian et al. used broadband
Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy to study the
isomerization kinetics of cyclopropane carboxaldehyde after
exciting it above the C−C isomerization barrier. Isomerization
between the two conformers (syn and anti) was observed to
occur in ∼180 ps time scale.3 While it has been generally
accepted that the rotational energy barrier of the C−C bond in
ethane, the simplest C−C bond-containing molecule in the gas
phase, is ∼3 kcal/mol,4 the origin of this energy barrier in
ethane remains controversial. Several groups believe the
dominant contributor to this barrier in ethane is the steric
hindrance or repulsion,5−8 while others proposed that hyperconjugation predominates.9−13 However, all the existing studies
use ethane or its derivative in organic solvents or in gas phase as
the model molecules. Information on the charge effect on the
rotational isomerization along the C−C single bonds has, to
our knowledge, been totally lacking.
Reported herein is the finding that the single C−C bonds in
both 1, 2-ethanedithiolate (−S−CH2−CH2−S−, 1,2-EDT2−)
and 2,3-butanedithiolate (−S(CH3)−CH−CH−(CH3)S−, 2,3BuDT2−) are extraordinarily rigid against rotational isomerization in water. The two C−S groups in each side of the C−C
bond remain exclusively in the trans conformer relative to the
central single C−C bond regardless of the temperature and salt
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© 2016 American Chemical Society
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EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
Chemicals and Equipment. All chemicals were purchased
from Sigma-Aldrich. 1,2-EDT, 2,3-BuDT, 1,4-butanedithiol
(1,4-BuDT), 1,6-hexanedithiol (1,6-HDT) and 1,8-octanedithiol (1,8-ODT) were all purchased within the past 7 months
and they were used as received. The reagent purity are all 95%
or above. Nanopure water was used throughout the experiments. The normal Raman spectra were obtained with a Horiba
LabRam HR800 confocal Raman microscope system and a 633
Received: December 12, 2015
Revised: February 16, 2016
Published: February 16, 2016
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Figure 1. Raman spectra of intact and dithiolated (A) 1,2-EDT, (B) 2,3-BuDT, and (C) 1,4-BuDT. The dashed lines from left to right represent the
peak positions for gauche C−S, trans C−S, C−H bending, S−H stretch, and C−H stretch, respectively. The Raman spectra of the intact molecules
were acquired using the neat samples. The nominal concentration of the molecules in the 1 M NaOH samples is 117 mM.
so that only the SCCS dihedral angle is fixed and all other
internal coordinates are relaxed during the calculations.
nm Raman excitation laser. The laser power used in the Raman
acquisition is ∼13 mW for all the Raman spectra taken.
Normal Raman Analysis. All the normal Raman spectra
for neat alkanedithiols as well as the dithiols in 1 M NaOH
were taken with an Olympus 10× objective (NA = 0.25) and
spectrograph grating of 300 grooves/mm or 1800 grooves/mm.
The spectral integration time was 50 s and when necessary ∼20
accumulations were taken to improve the signal-to-noise ratio.
The Raman shift was calibrated with a neon lamp, and the
Raman shift accuracy was ∼0.5 cm−1. The normal Raman
spectra of all dithiols were acquired using the neat liquid
samples and ∼117 mM of the samples in 1 M NaOH. The
temperature dependent Raman spectra were taken after heating
the mixture of the dithiols in 1 M NaOH to near boiling.
pH Titration of 1,2-EDT and 2,3-BuDT. 1,2-EDT (20 μL)
and 2,3-BuDT (30 μL) were each dissolved in different pH of
NaOH solution (2 mL). The nominal concentration of 1,2EDT and 2,3-BuDT were kept the same in each mixture. After
mixing thoroughly, the pH of the resulting mixture was taken
and the Raman spectra acquired for the mixtures.
Charge Screening and Neutralization Experiments.
Charge screening studies were performed using ∼117 mM of
1,2-EDT or 2,3-BuDT in 1 M NaOH mixed with solid NaCl or
LiCl to saturation concentrations. The Raman spectra were
obtained before and after addition of NaCl or LiCl, and after
heating the same mixtures to near boiling. In the charge
neutralization experiments, 1 mL of 1,2-EDT or 2,3-BuDT
(117 mM) in 1 M NaOH was mixed with 1 mL of 1 M AgNO3.
Upon sample mixing, precipitates were formed. Raman spectra
were obtained after washing the resulting precipitates with
copious amount of water to remove the excess AgNO3.
Computational Calculation of Raman Spectra and
Potential Energy Surface (PES). Gaussian 09 was used to
calculate the Raman spectra and energies of the dithiols. The
calculations are based on bp86 method with the 6-311+G**
basis functions. The solvent (water) effect was included by the
keyword scrf = (solvent = water). In the initial calculations, we
started from many different possible configurations to make
sure that all the local energy minima of different configurations
are located in the calculations. The potential energy surface
(PES) calculations for 1,2-EDT were done using the same bp86
method and 6-311+G** basis functions as in all other
calculations. The multiplicity of the dianion (1,2-EDT2−) and
neutral molecule (1,2-EDT) are one (1) and three (3),
respectively. PES was calculated as a function of the SCCS
dihedral angle. At each dihedral angle, we used opt = Z-matrix
■
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Figure 1 shows the Raman spectra of the intact and dithiolated
1,2-EDT, 2,3-BuDT, and 1,4-BuDT. The dithiolated molecules
were prepared by adding the dithiols into 1 M NaOH. The
total absence of the characteristic S−H stretching Raman
feature in the ∼2600 cm−1 region indicates that two thiols in
1,2-EDT, 2,3-BuDT, and 1,4-BuDT dissolved in the 1 M
NaOH solution are completely ionized. The possibility of
disulfide formation, which can also lead to the disappearance of
the S−H stretching features and has been observed when
alkanedithiols are attached onto plasmonic gold nanoparticle
surfaces,14 is excluded on the absence of the S−S stretching
feature (∼520 cm−1 region) in the Raman spectra of both intact
and the dithiolated dithiols.
The Raman spectral feature in the C−S stretch region
provides rich information about the organothiol conformation.
The C−S stretching features at ∼735 cm−1 and ∼662 cm−1
regions correspond to trans and gauche conformers of the two
distal C−S bonds, respectively, with reference to the Cα−Cβ
bond.15−17 The Cα carbon refers to the carbon to which the
sulfur atom is directly attached, while the Cβ is the carbon
directly linked to the Cα carbon. The concurrent appearance of
the ∼747 cm−1 (692 cm−1 for 2,3-BuDT) and ∼638 cm−1
peaks in Raman spectra of the intact 1,2-EDT, 2,3-BuDT, and
1,4-BuDT indicates that both trans and gauche conformers are
present in the intact dithiols (Figure 1). This is consistent with
the existing literature that trans and gauche conformer can
change rapidly in solution due to their low energy barrier
between these two conformers.18 However, upon dithiolation,
only the C−S trans stretching peak at the ∼747 cm−1 and ∼692
cm−1 is observable in 1,2-EDT and 2,3-BuDT samples,
respectively. There is no detectable Raman feature in the
∼638 cm−1 region that is associated with 1,2-EDT gauche
conformer. This result indicates that the C−S bonds in both
1,2-EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2− is predominately in a trans
conformer relative to their central C−C single bonds. In
other words, the single carbon−carbon bonds that link the two
sulfur ion cannot rotate to generate the gauche isomer. In
contrast, both trans and gauche C−S Raman features are
present in 1,4-BuDT regardless of the ionization states of their
distal thiols.
The Raman spectral assignments are supported by the
computational simulations (Figure 2). The experimental 1,2EDT2− Raman spectrum is in good agreement with the density
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remains entirely in trans conformer when the solution is heated
from room temperature to the initiation of the boiling.
Parts A and B of Figure 3 show the one-dimensional (1D)
PES calculations for the 1,2-EDT2− and 1,2-EDT, respectively
Figure 2. (A−C) Images of representative 1,2-EDT2− rotational
isomers, and their energies. The energy differences are calculated
relative to the lowest energy state conformer. (D) Comparison of the
1,2-EDT2− experimental Raman spectra with computationally
simulated 1,2-EDT2− Raman spectra for the different conformations
shown in parts A−C. The nominal concentration of 1,2-EDT in the
sample used to acquire the experimental spectrum is 117 mM.
Figure 3. 1D potential energy surface as a function of rotational
dihedral angle of SCCS for the (A) 1,2-EDT2−, (B) 1,2-EDT, and (C)
Coulomb repulsive energy between the two singly charged sulfide in
1,2-EDT2− and (D) the sum of the potential energy calculated for 1,2EDT (B) and the Coulomb repulsive energies (C).
functional theory calculated Raman spectrum of 1,2-EDT2−
trans conformer in which the two C−S bonds are in ∼180 deg
to each other, but differs significantly from gauche conformer in
which the angle between the two C−S bonds viewed along the
C−C bond are 0 and ∼75 deg (G1 and G2) respectively.
The exceptional rigidity of the C−C bond in the 1,2-EDT2−
and 2,3-BuDT2− against rotational isomerization can be due to
collective effects of steric hindrance of the sulfide ion and the
Coulomb repulsion. However, the former is unlikely the
dominant effect. Otherwise one should observe a similar
rotational energy barrier for the intact 1,2-EDT and 2,3-BuDT.
Instead, our computational simulations revealed that the
Coulomb repulsion alone between the two negatively charge
distal sulfide are adequate to impose a high energy barrier
inhibiting the 1,2-EDT2− rotational isomerization. Indeed, the
simulated energy difference between the two gauche conformers
(G1 and G2) and trans conformer of 1,2-EDT2− are ∼11.3 and
3.1 kcal/mol respectively (Figure 2) while the energy difference
between the most stable gauche conformer and the trans
conformer for the intact 1,2-EDT is ∼0.66 kcal/mol (Figure S1,
Supporting Information). The latter is in agreement with the
reported energy difference between the gauche and trans
conformer for neutral 1,2-EDT.18−20 This value also explains
the presence of both gauche and trans conformers of intact 1,2EDT at room temperature. The images and relative energies of
the other rotational isomers of 1,2-EDT are shown in Figure
S2, Supporting Information).
The calculated energy difference (∼11.3 and 3.1 kcal/mol) of
the 1,2-EDT2− gauche and trans conformers is significantly
greater than its thermal energy at room temperature. This
explains why no gauche conformer can be observed in the 1,2EDT2− Raman spectrum. According to the Boltzmann
distribution law, essentially all (>99%) of the 1,2-EDT2− are
in the trans conformer even when at the boiling temperature of
the sample (100 °C). This conclusion is supported by the
temperature-dependent Raman measurement (Figure S3,
Supporting Information). The latter shows that 1,2-EDT2−
as a function of the rotational dihedral angle of SCCS. Figure
3C is the PES for the Coulomb repulsive energy for the two
singly charged sulfide as a function of the dihedral angle.
Addition of the Coulomb repulsive energy term (Figure 3C) to
the neutral 1,2-EDT (Figure 3B) yields the PES profile in
Figure 3 (D) which has a similar trend as observed for the
dianion (Figure 3A). This result indicates that the relative
barrier between trans and gauche is due predominantly to the
Coulomb repulsion between the two singly charged sulfide ions
in 1,2-EDT2−. The PES calculations also show that the energy
is the highest when the dihedral angle is 0° in 1,2-EDT2− and
lowest when the dihedral angle is at 10° in 1,2-EDT. It is
worthy to note that conformer G1 (with dihedral angle of 0°)
corresponds to a saddle point instead of a local minimum.
In calculating the Coulomb repulsion between two negatively
charged sulfur atoms, we used classical Coulomb’s law. One
issue in this calculation is the determination of the required
relative permittivity. While Coulomb interaction between two
charge species separated by solvent can be computed
straightforwardly using the solvent relative permittivity, there
is no general model for determining the relative permittivity
required for the calculation of Coulomb interactions between
charged species separated by only a few chemical bonds in the
same molecule. We found in this work that when combined
with the DFT potential energy surface calculated for the neutral
molecule (Figure 3B), the Coulomb repulsion energy
calculated with a relative permittivity of 2 (Figure 3C) gives a
total potential energy surface (Figure 3D) comparable to the
DFT potential energy surface calculated for the dianion
molecule. This empirical permittivity value is very close to
experimental relative permittivity of alkane molecule pentane
(1.8),21 but significantly smaller than that for the relative
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permittivity of bulk water (78). This result suggests that one
can use the relative permittivity of the molecule itself to
estimate the classical Coulomb interaction between charged
atoms located in the same small molecule.
The normal mode vibrational frequencies calculated using
Hessian matrix also show that the vibrational frequency
corresponding to the torsional rotation is 126 cm−1 with a
zero point energy of 0.75 kJ/mol (0.18 kcal/mol). This zero
point energy is much lower than the energy barrier of ∼8 kJ/
mol for the gauche conformer (G2) in Figure 3A.
The fact that the Coulomb repulsion between the distal
sulfide ion (−S−) is the dominant factor in defining the 1,2EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2− conformations is further confirmed
from the pH titration studies. Complete trans conformer
appears only when both two distal −SH groups in 1,2-EDT or
2,3-BDT are both deprotonated (Figure 4). Otherwise, both
the gauche and trans conformers coexist in the Raman spectra
obtained with the samples whenever there is intact thiol.
(Figure 4).
Figure 5. Raman spectra of (A) 1, 2-EDT, and (B) 2,3-BuDT in 1 M
NaOH and saturated LiCl; and 1, 2-EDT, 2,3-BuDT sequentially
mixed with 1 M NaOH and 1 M AgNO3. The Raman spectrum was
taken after washing the precipitate formed to remove excess AgNO3.
The first two dashed lines from left to right indicate the expected peak
positions for the gauche C−S (ν(C−S)G) and trans C−S (ν(C−S)T),
respectively, on both 1,2-EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2− spectra. The Raman
spectra were acquired using the 300 grating on the Raman instrument.
AgNO3, solid precipitates form and both trans and gauche C−S
Raman features for the conformers appeared in the Raman
spectra acquired with these precipitates. The latter can be silver
dithiolate salts or the dithiolated covered silver nanoparticles
(AgNP). Our recent study revealed that the organothiol
reaction with silver is a highly complicated process in which
thiol can induce both AgNP formation and dissolution under
ambient conditions.24 The fact that both gauche and trans C−S
feature were observed in the AgNO3 treated 1,2-EDT2− and
2,3-BuDT2− solution indicates that Ag+ is highly effective in
neutralizing the sulfide ion in the dithiolated molecules.
The fact that both gauche and trans are observed in the 1,4BuDT (Figure 1) and other long-chain dithiolate such as 1,6hexanedithiolate (1,6-HDT) and 1,8-octanedithiolate (1,8ODT) (Figure 6) indicates that the effect of intermolecular
Coulomb repulsion between the distal sulfide ion on the
alkanedithiol conformation decreases rapidly as the charge
separation increases. Several possible reasons can be offered for
this observation. First, Coulomb’s law dictates that the larger
the charge separation, the lower the Coulomb repulsion.
Second, larger charge separation provides more room to
Figure 4. Raman spectra of (A) 1,2-EDT and (B) 2,3-BuDT at
different pH. The Raman spectra of the neat samples are also plotted
for comparison. The nominal concentration of 1,2-EDT and 2,3-BuDT
in the samples are both ∼117 mM. The dashed lines from left to right
represent the peak positions for gauche C−S, trans C−S, and S−H
stretch, respectively. The Raman spectra were acquired using the 300
grating on the Raman instrument.
The possibility of the electrolyte screening of the Coulomb
repulsion between the two singly charged sulfide ions in both
1,2-EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2− was studied using LiCl and NaCl
as the model electrolytes. It is possible under high salt
concentration, metal ions form ion pairs with one or both
sulfide ions in 1,2-EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2−, or form a metal ion
bridge between the two sulfur ions. The latter is in analogy to
the salt bridge that is commonly invoked to explain the
electrolyte effect on protein and DNA structure, conformation,
and their bioactivity.22,23 However, both 1,2-EDT2− and 2,3BuDT2− remain exclusively as trans conformers even when
saturated amount of LiCl and NaCl was added and the
electrolyte-containing solution is heated to near boiling (Figure
5 and Figure S4 in Supporting Information). This result
indicates that there is no significant ion pairing or salt bridge
formation between the singly charged sulfide ion and the
positively charged metal ion, or these intermolecular charge
interactions is inadequate to induce significant conformation
change in 1,2-EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2−. One likely reason is the
distances of charge separation in these two molecules are too
small to accommodate a solvated metal ion as the salt bridge.
However, when 1,2-EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2− are treated with
Figure 6. Raman spectra of (a) 1,6-HDT, (b) 1,6-HDT2−, (c) 1,8ODT, and (d) 1,8-ODT2−. The dithiolates were obtained after mixing
neat 1,6-HDT or 1,8-ODT in 1 M NaOH. The nominal
concentrations of 1,6-HDT2− and 1,8-ODT2− in the samples are
both 117 mM. The dashed lines from left to right represent the peak
positions for gauche C−S, trans C−S, C−H bending, S−H stretch, and
C−H stretch, respectively. The Raman spectra were acquired using the
300 grating on the Raman instrument.
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accommodate solvent or solvated counterion to form a salt
bridge between the sulfur ions. This can further reduce the
Coulomb repulsion between the distal sulfide ions.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we conducted a systematic study on the charge
effect on the rotational isomerization of C−C bond in water
and observed, for the first time a single C−C bond that cannot
rotate in water under ambient conditions. The Coulomb
repulsion between the two distal singly charged sulfide ions in
both 1,2-EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2− make the central single C−C
bond extremely rigid that both 1,2-EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2− are
locked in trans conformers under all explored experimental
conditions. Such charge effect is highly sensitive to the distance
of charge separation. Both gauche and trans conformers appear
in alkanedithiolate in which the two singly charged sulfide ions
are separated by more than four chemical bonds. The insight
from this study should be important for understanding of the
charge effect on conformational isomerization.
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■
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
* Supporting Information
S
The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the
ACS Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b12166.
Experimental details; images, relative energies and
Raman spectra of 1,2-EDT; temperature dependent
Raman spectra of 1,2-EDT2−; Raman spectra of 1,2EDT2− and 2,3-BuDT2− in the presence of NaCl;
Raman-based pH titration of 1,2-EDT and 2,3-BuDT
(PDF)
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Authors
*(D.Z.) E-mail: Dongmao@chemistry.msstate.edu.
*(S.Z.) E-mail: Shengli.Zou@ucf.edu.
Author Contributions
The manuscript was written through contributions of all
authors. All authors have given approval to the final version of
the manuscript.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by two NSF funds (CHE 1151057,
EPS-0903787) and a USDA seed grant (under Project No.
5864022729) provided to D.Z.
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NOTE ADDED AFTER ASAP PUBLICATION
This paper published ASAP on 2/29/16. The TOC/Abstract
graphic was replaced and the caption for Figure 5 was
corrected. The revised version reposted on 3/1/16.
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b12166
J. Phys. Chem. B 2016, 120, 2418−2422