Abstract

The association of Cu-X (X = -H, -Cl, and -F) with H2CCHCHmYn and HCCCHmYn (Y = -Cl, -F, -OH, -CH3) has been studied at a high level of theory. The density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-311 + G(3df,2p) level has been chosen to calculate the structure and the relative stability of 24 different complexes. The interaction of Cu-F with the derivatives of ethylene and acetylene was found very strong, with interaction energies close to those of conventional covalent bonds. In all complexes, the most stable structure was found when Cu-X is positioned on the unsaturated CC bond, forming a three-membered ring that leads to longer CC bond distances. Both ethylene and acetylene complexes show similar trends of interaction energies with respect to the same moiety. All electronic indexes analyzed by means of the QTAIM, ELF, and NBO formalisms indicate that the strength of the interaction should increase with the number of withdrawing substituents in both series of compounds.