Synthesis, crystal growth, thermal, electronic and vibrational spectral studies of 1-(4-Bromophenyl)-3-(3,4-dimethoxy-phenyl)prop-2-en-1-one: A density functional theory study

A new chalcone derivative, 1-(4-Bromophenyl)-3-(3,4-dimethoxy-phenyl)prop-2-en-1-one (DMBC) was synthesized and single crystals were grown by slow evaporation technique. The FT-Raman and FT-IR spectra of the sample were recorded in the region 3500-50 cm^-1 and 4000-400 cm^-1 respectively. The spectra were interpreted with the aid of normal coordinate analysis, following structure optimizations and force field calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level of theory. Normal coordinate calculations were performed using the DFT force field corrected by a recommended set of scaling factors yielding fairly good agreement between the observed and calculated wavenumbers. DMBC is thermally stable up to 265.0 °C and optically transparent in the visible region. The total electron density and molecular electrostatic potential surfaces of the molecules were constructed by Natural Bond Orbital analysis using B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) method to display electrostatic potential (electron + nuclei) distribution, molecular shape, size, and dipole moments of the molecule. The electronic properties, HOMO and LUMO energies were measured.