Restricted rotation about partial C,N double bonds

The restricted rotation about the partial C,N double bond in 2-chloro-6-NR₂-pyran-4-ones is discussed in the light of NMR spectroscopic data and theoretical calculations.Ab initio calculations at the HF/6-31G^* level were carried out using a continuum model to take solvent effects into account. The delocalization of-electron density [described by natural bond orbital analysis (NBO)] was applied to determine the degree of conjugation in the ground state (GS) and in the transition state (TS) for the restricted rotation of the compounds studied. The reason for the different barriers to rotation of the NR₂ substituents (pyrrolidino > dimethylamino > morpholidino > piperidino) at the 2-chloro-pyran-4-one ring appears to be the different steric hindrance of the NR₂ substituents in the GS for the restricted rotation.