Molecular structure, spectroscopic (FT-IR and UV-Vis) and DFT quantum-chemical studies on 2-[(2,4-Dimethylphenyl)iminomethyl]-6-methylphenol

Density functional calculations of the structure, vibrational spectra, molecular electrostatic potential and thermodynamic functions have been performed at the B3LYP/6-311 ++ G(d,p) level of theory for the Schiff base compound 2-[(2,4-Dimethylphenyl) iminomethyl]-6-methylphenol. Experimental and theoretical Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) studies of the title compound show the preference of enol form, as supported by X-ray analysis results. Using the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) method, electronic absorption spectra of the compound have been predicted and a good agreement is determined with the experimental ones. To investigate the tautomeric stability, optimisation calculations at B3LYP/6-311 ++ G(d, p) level were performed for the enol and keto forms of the title compound. Calculated results show that its enol form is more stable than that of the keto form. The predicted non-linear optical properties of the title compound are much greater than those of urea. The changes in thermodynamic properties for the formation of the title compound with the temperature ranging from 200 K to 500 K have been obtained using the statistical thermodynamic method. At 298.15 K the change of Gibbs free energy for the formation reaction of the title compound is 37.03 kJ/mol. The title compound cannot be spontaneously produced from the isolated monomers at room temperature. The tautomeric equilibrium constant is also computed as 1.23 x 10(-3) at 298.15 K for enol <-> keto tautomerisation of the title compound.