Effects of structure and number of heteroatom on the π-π stacking interactions of benzene with N-substituted coronenes: A theoretical study

Stability of the π-π stacking interactions in the Ben||N-substituted-coronene complexes was studied using the computational quantum chemistry methods (where Ben is benzene and || denotes π-π stacking interaction, and N-substituted-coronene is coronene molecule which substituted with different number of N atoms). The results reveal simultaneous effects of structure and number of Heteroatom on the π-π stacking interactions with N-substituted-coronenes. Changing the number of Heteroatom N in N-substituted-coronenes and substitution of 8N-coronene with electron- withdrawing or electron-donating X groups alter the electron charge density at rings of this molecule and leads to different binding energies in the Ben||X-8N-substituted-coronene complexes. Results indicate that electron-withdrawing groups lead to higher π–π stacking binding energies compared to electron-donating ones in the Ben||X-8N-substituted-coronene complexes.

Keywords:

π-π stacking interaction , benzene , N-substituted-coronene , electron charge density , binding energy