Density functional calculations of C-NO2 bond dissociation energies for nitroalkanes molecules

Bond dissociation energies for the removal of nitrogen dioxide group in some nitroalkane energetic materials have been calculated by using the three hybrid density functional theory (DFT) methods B3LYP, B3PW91 and B3P86 with 6-31g** and 6-311g** basis sets. The computed BDEs have been compared with the available experimental results. It is found that the WPM method with 6-31g** and 6-311g** basis sets can obtain satisfactory bond dissociation energies (BDEs), which are in extraordinary agreement with the experimental data. Considering the smaller mean absolute deviation and maximum difference, the reliable B3P86/6-311g** method was recommended to compute the BDEs for the removal of nitrogen dioxide group in the nitroalkane energetic materials. Using the method, the BDEs of 8 other nitroalkane energetic materials have been calculated and the maximum difference from experimental value is 1.76 kcal-mol(-1) (for the BDE of tC(4)H(9)-NO2), which further proves the reliability of B3P86/6-311g** method. In addition, it is noted that the BDEs of C-NO2 bond change slightly for main chain nitroalkane compounds with the maximum difference of only 3.43 kcal mol(-1).