Tetrel, chalcogen, and CH⋅⋅O hydrogen bonds in complexes pairing carbonyl-containing molecules with 1, 2, and 3 molecules of CO2.

The complexes formed by H2CO, CH3CHO, and (CH3)2CO with 1, 2, and 3 molecules of CO2 are studied by ab initio calculations. Three different types of heterodimers are observed, most containing a tetrel bond to the C atom of CO2, and some supplemented by a CH⋅⋅O H-bond. One type of heterodimer is stabilized by an anti-parallel arrangement of the C=O bonds of the two molecules. The binding energies are enhanced by methyl substitution on the carbonyl, and vary between 2.4 and 3.5 kcal/mol. Natural bond orbital analysis identifies a prime source of interaction as charge transfer into the π*(CO) antibonding orbital. Heterotrimers and tetramers carry over many of the geometrical and bonding features of the binary complexes, but also introduce O⋅⋅O chalcogen bonds. These larger complexes exhibit only small amounts of cooperativity.