Quantum chemical study of tautomeric equilibriums, intramolecular hydrogen bonds, and π-electron delocalization in the first singlet and triplet excited states of 2-selenoformyl-3-thioxo-propionaldehyde

In the present study, the tautomeric process, intramolecular hydrogen bonding (IMHB), and π-electron delocalization (π-ED) of 2-selenoformyl-3-thioxo-propionaldehyde (STP) in the first singlet and triplet excited states were investigated by CIS and TD-DFT methods. The relative energies of hydrogen-bonded tautomers in both excited states indicate that the thiol/enol conformers are the most/least stable forms. In this regard, a detailed analysis of various tautomeric equilibriums, different types of hydrogen bonds, and π-electron delocalization was performed. The electronic energies of different tautomers indicate the thermodynamic preference of thiol with respect to the other forms. Furthermore, the low activation energy barriers of thione⇄thiol equilibrium also show the kinetic preference of thiol. On the other hand, the estimation of different hydrogen bond energies emphasizes the stronger IMHB of enol. Moreover, the evaluation of π-ED by the structural parameter of Gilli (λ) represents the significance of electron mobility in the enol conformers. Consequently, the duality between the IMHB and π-ED with the thermodynamic stability order of tautomers indicates that the tautomeric phenomenons play a dominant role in determining the stability of the benchmark structures in both singlet and triplet excited states.