Corrosion inhibition behavior of two quinoline chalcones: insights from density functional theory

Abstract

There has been a considerable surge of experimental inquiry in recent years into understanding the factors responsible for the corrosion inhibition efficiency of chalcones; however, the question of what actually determines the efficiency still remains a topic of debate. In this study, the dependence of the inhibition effect of such two compounds, namely, 3-(3-oxo-3-phenyl-propenyl)-1H-quinolin-2-one and 3-(3-oxo-3-phenyl-propenyl)-1H-benzoquinolin-2-one, on their molecular and electronic structure is analyzed using density functional theory calculations. In agreement with experiments, this study found strong evidence to link corrosion inhibition property of the compounds to their actual molecular structures in acidic media.