Molecular structure and fundamental vibrational frequencies of benzimidazole (BZI) are reported using ab initio-Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional theory (DFT) methods at different levels of calculation. Observed polarized IR and Raman fundamentals of polycrystalline, single crystal, KBr-BZI disks, and gaslike samples are analyzed and assigned by comparison to the computed values. The assignment of fundamentals shows a one-to-one correspondence between the observed and calculated fundamentals using the BLYP/6-31G* level of calculation without applying any scaling factor except for XH stretching (X represents C or N), where a 0.995 scaling factor has been used. Hydrogen bonding and its effects on some normal vibrational modes are discussed. The results show that the nonscaled BLYP/6-31G* level of calculation may be used as a reference for assessing the intermolecular hydrogen bonding effect.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.