The Structure of Liquid <i>N</i>-Methylformamide by Means of X-Ray Diffraction and Ab Initio LCGO–MO–SCF Calculations

Abstract

Abstract The liquid structure of N-methylformamide (NMF) has been investigated by the X-ray diffraction method and the ab initio MO-SCF method. The structure parameters within a molecule were obtained as follows: C=O : 122(1) pm, C(methyl)–N : 145(2) pm, C(carbonyl)–N : 134(2) pm, N···O : 222(4) pm, C(methyl)···O : 278(6) pm. The intermolecular hydrogen–bonded N···O distance was estimated to be 298(11) pm. A linear and flexible chain structure was proposed for the liquid structure of NMF on the basis of scattered intensity data by the X-ray diffraction method and of interaction energies and geometries of hydrogen-bonded NMF molecules calculated by the ab initio MO calculations.