Ab initio calculations of both ClCH₂OCH₃ and ClCH₂CH₃ molecules and various ClCH₂OCH₃ structures with fixed angles of rotation of the methoxy group about the C−O bond were performed by the restricted Hartree-Fock method in the valence-split 6–31 G^* basis set with full optimization of the geometry. The populations of the valent p-orbitals of the chlorine atoms in these molecules have been analyzed. The³⁵Cl NQR frequencies and the asymmetry parameters of the electric field gradient (EFG) at the³⁵Cl nuclei have been calculated. Good agreement with experimental NQR frequencies was obtained for the calculations where only the populations of the less diffuse 3p-components of these orbitals were used. The³⁵Cl NQR frequency in ClCH₂OCH₃ is lower than that in ClCH₂CH₃ due to the higher population of the less diffuse component of the p_σ-orbital of the Cl atom in the former molecule.