The structures and stabilities of singlet and triplet dithiatriazines: a computational study

Abinitiomolecular orbital and Møller–Plesset perturbation theory calculations have been carried out on two model dithiatriazines RCN3S2(R = H, NH2). With geometry optimization and the inclusion of electron correlation both of these dithiatriazines are predicted to be ground state singlets. Both molecules have low-lying triplet excited states, with energy gaps of 6.6 (R = H) and 13.0 (R = NH2) kcal mol−1. The singlet dithiatriazines distort from high (C2v) to low (Cs) symmetry, and these changes are important in determining the relative energies of the singlet and triplet molecules. The structural distortions experienced by these molecules are related to Hartree–Fock and Jahn–Teller instabilities in other thiazene heterocycles.