Comparison of hydrogen and halogen bonds between dimethyl sulfoxide and hypohalous acid: competition and cooperativity

A theoretical study of the complexes formed between dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and hypohalous acid (HOX, X = Cl, Br, and I) has been carried out at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. For each HOX, four minima binary complexes were found, two mainly with an OH center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bond and the other two with an OX center dot center dot center dot O halogen bond. The hydrogen-bonded complexes are more stable than the halogen-bonded analogues for HOCl and HOBr, while both types of complexes have similar stability in the iodine case. A red shift was found for the associated H-O and X-O bond stretch vibrations and a small blue shift for the distant bonds. As the oxygen of DMSO simultaneously binds with two HOCl molecules, the corresponding interactions are weakened with diminutive effect. This diminutive effect is the largest in the complexes with two OH center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds but the smallest in those with two OCl center dot center dot center dot O halogen bonds. [GRAPHICS] .