1. You recorded maximum electrostatic potential values for the ANTI and SYN conformers.

Question

What is this value a measure of? How does this value relate to acid strength? Does the trend
seen for these values agree with the pKa value trend for both conformers?

2. For fluoroacetic acid the highest Boltzmann Distribution is when the dihedral angle is at 0°.
However, going from chloro- to bromo- and then to iodoacetic acid, there is an increasing dip
in the Boltzmann Distribution. What is responsible for this “dip”?

3. Ignoring the “dip” mentioned in #2, what is the “general” relationship between dipole and
Boltzmann Distribution for the haloacetic acids?
a. ANTI conformers have a (low/high) dipole and a (low/high) Boltzmann Distribution.
The dihedral angle is __________________.
b. The SYN conformers have a (low/high) dipole and a (low/high) Boltzmann Distribution.
The dihedral angle is __________________ .

Thanks!