Proton affinity correlations for alkyl chlorides

Ab initio SCF calculations with minimal STO-3G and extended 44-31G basis sets have been performed on the simple alkyl chlorides, HCl to t-BuCl, and their protonated analogs. MINDO/3 calculations are also reported for these species and a variety of cyclic and bicyclic chlorides. The much closer agreement with experiment for STO-3G proton affinities than for 44-31G values is in sharp contrast to the results for first-row bases. An excellent correlation is found between both the STO-3G and MINDO/3 proton affinities and the charge on the CIH fragment in RCIH+. For the acyclic chlorides, correlations of PA's with the polar substituent constant, σ*, and IP's are also reasonable. In addition, the calculated carbonium ion-HCl interaction energy for t-BuClH+ indicates that protonated tertiary chlorides are no more than marginally stable in the gas phase.