Tautomerism in liquid 1,2,3-triazole: a combined Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Diffraction, Molecular Dynamics and FTIR study

TL;DR

This study combines experimental and computational techniques to investigate the tautomeric equilibrium of liquid 1,2,3-triazole, revealing phase-dependent preferences for different tautomeric forms and providing insights into its molecular structure.

Contribution

It presents a multitechnique approach integrating X-ray diffraction, molecular dynamics, and FTIR spectroscopy to analyze tautomerism in liquid 1,2,3-triazole for the first time.

Findings

T-2H tautomer is favored in gas and solid phases.

Liquid phase diffraction patterns are best explained by T-2H and T-1H tautomers.

T-2H form shows slightly better agreement with experimental data.

Abstract

In this work, we report a multitechnique (energy-dispersive X-Ray diffraction, computational methods and FT-IR spectroscopy) study of the tautomeric equilibrium of 1,2,3-triazole, one of the few small nitrogen-containing eterocycles liquid at room temperature. The T-2H form (C2v symmetry) is found to be strongly favored in gas and solid phases, whereas the neat liquid gives diffraction patterns that can be interpreted satisfactorily with the structure functions calculated from some molecular dynamics results for both T-2H and T-1H tautomers, although the T-2H form gives a slightly better agreement.