Synthesis, single crystal X-ray, Hirshfeld surface analysis and DFT calculation based NBO, HOMO-LUMO, MEP, ECT and molecular docking analysis of N'-[(2,6-dichlorophenyl)methylidene]-2-{[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]amino}benzohydrazide

A new Schiff base compound of N'-[(2,6-dichlorophenyl)methylidene]-2-{[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]amino}benzohydrazide was synthesized and characterized through various spectroscopic techniques, including infrared, 1H NMR, 13C NMR spectroscopy and X–ray diffraction. Experimental results collected by XRD were compared with theoretical results obtained from Density functional theory method. Hirshfeld surface analysis was used to obtain three dimension molecular surface and two dimension fingerprint plots to illustrate the intermolecular bonding. Theoretical calculations provide valuable insights into both global and local chemical activity, as well as the properties of molecules and chemicals, including their nucleophilic and electrophilic nature. The DFT method at B3LYP/6–311++G (d,p) basis set was employed to study the optimized structure and geometric parameters, as well as to explore the frontier molecular orbitals, global reactive parameters, Mullikan population analaysis, Natural bond orbital and molecular electrostatic potential characteristics which cannot be obtained by experimental methods. Additionally, electrophilicity based charge transfer study was carried out with DNA bases to determine the direction of charge transfer. Finally, an investigation was carried out using molecular docking analysis to examine the binding energies of the title compound with PDB ID: 2QDJ protein target. The analysis yielded significant insights into the possible interactions, offering valuable findings in the process.