13C NMR study of some polychloro-isobutane and -isobutene compounds

The ¹³C chemical shifts and the carbon–proton coupling constants have been determined for some chlorinated isobutane and isobutene compounds. The one-bond coupling constants in isobutane derivatives showed a regular increase with an increasing number of γ-chlorine substituents. The three-bond coupling constant of the methyl carbon decreased from 4.2 to 2.0 Hz as the number of chlorine substituents in the γ-position increased. In the isobutene compounds, the vicinal coupling of C-1 was larger to protons in a group that is trans with respect to a chlorine substituent on C-1 than to those in the corresponding group cis to the chlorine. The vicinal coupling constants between atoms in geminal groups (on C-2) seem to be affected by the orientation of the chlorine substituent on C-1.