Quantum chemical computational methods, which use quantum mechanics and molecular dynamics theory, have developed rapidly in the past few decades, and quantum chemical computation has penetrated almost all fields of chemistry. Hydrogen bonds are ubiquitously common weak intermolecular interactions. Moreover, the bonding mechanism of hydrogen bonds is considered to be different from that of chemical bonding. Because of the difficulty of experimental studies, a more accurate calculation of hydrogen bonding from theory is a more convenient and direct method to understand hydrogen bonding. Density functional theory (DFT) is the most widely used general function in quantum chemical calculations, giving accurate results for most chemical systems. In this paper, the geometries of the hydrogen-bonded dimer complex of acetic acid and DMSO was structurally optimized and potential energy surface was determined. The geometries of four related hydrogen-bonded dimer complexes were fully optimized using the M06-2X/6-311++G (3d, 2p) exchange-correlation functional with DFT-D3(BJ) empirical dispersion correction. We found that hydrogen bonding is a mixture of electrostatic interactions and covalent bonding, and that hydrogen bonding is a kind of force with different percentages of electrostatic and covalent character, rather than a special force independent of chemical bonding. Thus, more clearly defining our inherent classification of forces between substances provides a new perspective for our future study of weak interactions such as hydrogen bonding.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), produced by microbes when dietary fiber ferments in the colon, are one of the most studied microbial products despite their volatility and complex matrices, which make analysis challenging. In the current study, we sought to address research gaps by exploring the commonalities and differences between the retention time changes for SCFAs in polar solvents. In one such solvent, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), the retention time of the SCFA acetic acid shows a linear positive correlation with the equal volume increase in the DMSO solvent. We used gas chromatography–mass spectrometry to analyze the retention times of mixed solutions of formic acid, acetic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, and toluene in the solvents DMSO and water and found that only the retention times of formic acid and acetic acid changed. We further compared the effect of three solvents with similar polarities, DMSO, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), and dimethylformamide (DMF), on the retention time of acetic acid and found that it increased in the DMSO–water solution more than in the NMP–water solution and remained unchanged in the DMF–water solution. This finding is consistent with quantum chemical calculations showing that the strength of the hydrogen bond between DMSO and acetic acid is greater than between NMP and acetic acid. Taken together, the chromatographic results and quantum chemical calculations indicate that, in all three solvents, the portion of the molecule with the smallest negative electrostatic potential (red) has high electron density and can easily donate electrons, forming a hydrogen bond with acetic acid. However, the portion with the largest positive electrostatic potential (blue) forms a bond with polyethylene glycol, a column stationary solution with a strong dipole moment, and is adsorbed on the stationary solution in the direction of the dipole moment. Therefore, the retention times of formic acid and acetic acid change under the combined influence of a series of complex intermolecular forces. In the chromatographic column, the outflow rate of DMF is higher than that of acetic acid, and the force of the hydrogen bond between DMF and acetic acid cannot overcome the outflow resistance of acetic acid, so the retention time of the acetic acid in the DMF–water solution does not change. The retention times of butyric acid and valeric acid are unchanged in aprotic polar solvents for the same reason.

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