Substituent effects in alkynes and cyanides: a momentum density perspective
Apriori quantum mechanical calculations are made for the alkynes XCCH (X = H, Li, F, Cl, and NC), and the cyanides XCN (X = H, F, Cl, O−, S−, and NC) in order to examine how substituent effects in these homologous series are reflected by changes in the three-dimensional one-electron momentum density. Our qualitative analysis is based on a partial wave decomposition of the momentum density, and is in harmony with analogous studies of the position space charge density. Our quantitative analysis is based on various properties of the isotropic momentum density and on the kinetic energy anisotropy. Values of the latter quantity relative to the parent unsubstituted molecule of the pertinent homologous series are found to correlate with the Taft resonance and Dewar–Grisdale mesomeric substituent constants.