Structural variation, π-charge transfer, and transmission of electronic substituent effects in (E)-β-substituted styrenes: a quantum chemical study

The nature and transmission mechanism of substituent effects in (E)-β-substituted styrenes, C6H5–CH=CH–X, have been investigated from the structural changes induced by a variable substituent on the phenyl group. The molecular structures of 46 (E)-β-substituted styrenes were determined from MO calculations at the B3LYP/6-311++G** level of theory. The structural variation of the phenyl probe is best represented by two orthogonal linear combinations of the internal ring angles, S F STY and S R STY . Regression analysis of S F STY using appropriate explanatory variables reveals a composite field effect, the main component of which originates from the long-range effect of the substituent enhanced by field-induced π-polarization of the vinylene spacer and resonance-induced field effects. The electronegativity of the substituent also plays a role in determining the value of S F STY . Comparison with coplanar 4-substituted biphenyls reveals that the components of the field effect in the two molecular systems are of the same nature (apart from the electronegativity contribution, which is not present in biphenyl derivatives). However, the structural variation of the phenyl probe is more pronounced in (E)-β-substituted styrenes due to the shorter distance between substituent and probe. Analysis of π-charge distribution shows that the aptitude of the substituents to exchange π-electrons with the styrene and coplanar biphenyl frames is nearly the same. Nevertheless, the π-charge variation on the phenyl probe of (E)-β-substituted styrenes is 57 % greater than the corresponding quantity in coplanar 4-substituted biphenyls. Thus, the vinylene spacer is more effective than the phenylene spacer in transmitting π-charges. The S R STY parameter is related to the amount of π-charge transferred from the –CH=CH–X moiety into the π-system of the benzene ring, or vice versa, due to the resonance effect of the variable substituent and, to a lesser extent, to field-induced π-polarization.