Monothiodibenzoylmethane: Structural and vibrational assignments

The vibrational structure of the title compound (1,3-diphenyl-3-thioxopropane-1-one, TDBM) was studied by a variety of experimental and theoretical methods. The stable ground state configuration of TDBM was investigated by IR absorption measurements in different media, by LD polarization spectroscopy of samples partially aligned in a stretched polymer matrix, and by Raman spectroscopy. The investigation of the metastable photoproduct of TDBM was based on the previously published spectrum of the product trapped in argon matrix (Posokhov et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 350 (2001) 502). The observed vibrational spectra were compared with theoretical transitions obtained with B3LYP/cc-pVTZ density functional theory (DFT). The results leave no doubt that the stable ground state configuration of TDBM corresponds to the intramolecularly hydrogen bonded enol form (e-CCC), and that the photoproduct corresponds to an “open”, non-chelated enethiol form (t-TCC), thereby supporting the previous conclusions by Posokhov et al. No obvious indications of the contribution of other forms to the observed spectra could be found.