Red-, Blue-, or No-Shift in Hydrogen Bonds:  A Unified Explanation

We provide a simple explanation for X-H bond contraction and the associated blue shift and decrease of intensity in IR spectrum of the so-called improper hydrogen bonds. This explanation organizes hydrogen bonds (HBs) with a seemingly random relationship between the X-H bond length (and IR frequency and its intensity) to its interaction energy. The factors which affect the X-H bond in all X-H...Y HBs can be divided into two parts: (a) The electron affinity of X causes a net gain of electron density at the X-H bond region in the presence of Y and encourages an X-H bond contraction. (b) The well understood attractive interaction between the positive H and electron rich Y forces an X-H bond elongation. For…