Molecular recognition via hydrogen bonding in supramolecular complexes: A Fourier transform iInfrared spectroscopy study

This article belongs to the Special Issue Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonding 2018.We assess the assembly of supramolecular complexes by hydrogen bonding between azocompounds and a diacylaminopyridine monomer by temperature-dependent Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The electronic delocalisation in the supramolecular rings formed by multiple hydrogen bonds stabilises the complexes, which coexist with dimeric species in temperature-dependent equilibria. We show how the application of readily available molecular modelling and spectroscopic techniques can predict the stability of new supramolecular entities coexisting in equilibria, ultimately assessing the success of molecular recognition.A.M.F. and D.Z. would like to acknowledge the School of Engineering (University of Aberdeen) for funding. M.P., L.O. and A.M.-F. would like to acknowledge the Spanish Ministry of Science for the MAT2017-84838-P project.Peer reviewe