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The effects of substituent and overall charge upon the binding of a halide anion by a bis-triazolium receptor are studied by M06-2X DFT calculations, with the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set. Comparison is also made between a receptor that engages in H-bonds, with a halogen-bonding species. Fluoride is clearly most strongly bound, followed by Cl-, Br-, and I- in that order. The dicationic receptor engages in stronger complexes, but not by a very wide margin compared to its neutral counterpart. The binding is enhanced as the substituent on the two triazolium rings becomes progressively more electron-withdrawing. Halogen-substituted receptors, whether neutral or cationic, display a greater sensitivity to substituent than do their H-bonding counterparts. Both Coulombic and charge transfer factors obey the latter trends but do not correctly reproduce the stronger halogen vs hydrogen bonding. Both H-bonds and halogen bonds are nearly linear within the complexes, due in part to bond rotations within the receptor that bring the two triazole rings closer to coplanarity with the central benzene ring.
This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.5b09738.