Ab initio MO calculations and 17O NMR at natural abundance of para-substituted acetophenones

¹⁷O NMR chemical shifts and calculated (ab initio MO theory) electron densities are reported for a series of para-substituted acetophenones, X? C₄H₆? COCH₃, where X = NH₂, OCH₃, F, Cl, CH₃, H, COCH₃, CN, NO₂. The ¹⁷O shifts are very sensitive to the para substituent and cover a range of some 51 ppm. Donors induce upfield shifts and acceptors downfield shifts. The substituent chemical shifts (SCS) correlate precisely with σ_I and σ_R⁺ using the Dual Substituent Parameter (DSP) method. The derived transmission coefficients ρ_I and ρ_R indicate that polar and resonance mechanisms contribute approximately equally to the observed substituent effects. The shifts also correlate well with calculated π-electron densities (slope = 1500 ppm per electron) confirming their electronic origin. λ values are also reported, and the role of the average excitation energy, ΔE, in determining ¹⁷O SCS values is discussed. It is concluded that variations in ΔE are minor and that the local Δ-electron density is the dominant feature controlling ¹⁷O SCS values.