Ab initio calculations of NMR chemical shifts

The nuclear magnetic resonance chemical shift is one of the most powerful properties available for structure determination at the molecular level. A review of advances made in the ab initio calculation of chemical shielding during the past five years is presented. Specifically, progress in the areas including the effects of an unpaired electron, electron correlation, and relativistic effects into ab initio chemical shielding calculations, the tensor nature of the chemical shift, and intramolecular and intermolecular effects on the chemical shift will be covered.     

Structure validation of natural products by quantum-mechanical GIAO calculations of 13C NMR chemical shifts

Geometry optimization and GIAO (gauge including atomic orbitals) (13)C NMR chemical shift calculations at Hartree-Fock level, using the 6-31G(d) basis set, are proposed as a tool to be applied in the structural characterization of new organic compounds, thus providing useful support in the interpretation of experimental NMR data. Parameters related to linear correlation plots of computed versus experimental (13)C NMR chemical shifts for fourteen low-polar natural products, containing 10-20 carbon atoms, were employed to assess the reliability of the proposed structures. A comparison with the hybrid B3LYP method was carried out to evaluate electron correlation contributions to the calculation of (13)C NMR chemical shifts and, eventually, to extend the applicability of such computational methods to the interpretation of NMR spectra in apolar solutions. The method was tested by studying three examples of revised structure assignments, analyzing how the theoretical (13)C chemical shifts of both correct and incorrect structures matched the experimental data.     

Stereostructure assignment of flexible five-membered rings by GIAO 13C NMR calculations: prediction of the stereochemistry of elatenyne

The stereochemistry of conformationally mobile five-membered rings is often hard to assign from NMR data, and [2,2']bifuranyl systems are even more challenging. GIAO (13)C NMR chemical shifts have been calculated for a series of [2,2']bifuranyl and pyranopyran species, taking into account their conformational flexibility using weighted averages of the data for all low energy conformers. We show that calculation of (13)C NMR chemical shifts using the geometries obtained using molecular mechanics greatly reduces the computational expense without a significant loss of accuracy, even in this demanding system. The results were sufficiently accurate to distinguish not only the pyran and furanyl isomers but also between all the diastereoisomeric forms. As a result of this validation, we predict the stereochemistry for the recently proposed revised structure of the natural product elatenyne, which contains a [2,2']bifuranyl core.     

13C NMR chemical shifts of some highly-branched acyclic compounds

A study has been made of the ¹³C chemical shifts of a number of acyclic alkanes, alkenes, nitriles and ketones which contain quaternary carbon atoms. Similar data have also been obtained for the series of compounds involved in the synthesis of triisopropylacetic acid. Substituent effects and steric factors in these highly substituted compounds are discussed in relation to the chemical shifts.     

13C chemical shifts and conformational analysis of S-methylthiolanium cations

The ¹³C NMR spectra of all cations obtained by methylation at sulphur of the mono-and dimethylthiolanes are reported. The methyl substituent on sulphur affects the shieldings of the adjacent carbons in a manner which allows easy identification of the cis and trans isomers. For most compounds the ¹³C pattern is consistent with a half-chair ring conformation with maximum staggering at C-3, C-4. Only with methyl groups at the 1,2-or 1,2,3-positions is the half-chair appreciably deformed. It is suggested that in these cases the preferred conformation is a quasi-envelope with C-3 at the top.     

核磁共振化学位移的MNDO/GIAO微扰法计算

本文首次应用MNDO近似和规范不变的原子轨道(GIAO)计算了化学位移,提出了MNDO/GIAO微扰计算法及单电子算符1/r_m,L_m及L_m/r_m~3的简单有效积分法.通过优化选择MNDO的β_μ参数,对一组典型有机分子~(13)C化学位移的计算结果表明,理论值与实验数据符合得很好,并克服了SOS微扰法对坐标原点的依赖性.     

Ab initio molecular modeling of 13C NMR chemical shifts of polymers. 1. Ethylene–norbornene copolymers

Cycloolefin copolymers (COC) have recently raised much interest because of their excellent thermal and optical properties, largely determined by the chain composition and stereochemistry. Previous force‐field computations allowed us to define the main conformational characteristics of ethylene–norbornene (E–N) copolymers and to contribute to the elucidation of their microstructure on the basis of empirical relationships between conformation and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shifts. A thorough test of ab initio ¹³C chemical shifts computations [gauge‐invariant atomic orbitals (GIAO)] on known cases shows that the agreement with experimental data is quite good, especially with the MPW1PW91 density functional theory (DFT), using the 6‐311+G(2d,p) basis set on properly energy‐minimized structures. We applied this method on proper model compounds to confirm the signal assignment of the spectra of E–N copolymers in the presence of norbornene microblocks, where strong effects arising from ring distortions are expected to occur. The results nicely confirm the latest assignment of norbornene signals belonging to ENNE sequences. This shows the great potentialities of GIAO/DFT computations with regard to complex spectra interpretation and polymer microstructural investigations. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2002     

Quantum-chemical calculations of NMR chemical shifts of organic molecules: XIV. Solvation effects in calculations of chemical shifts in 13C NMR spectra of chlorine-containing compounds

Analysis of precision factors in calculations of ¹³C NMR chemical shifts in the series of saturated and unsaturated organochlorine compounds was performed in the framework of the method of electron density functional theory GIAO-DFT-KT3/pcS-2 in the gas phase and with accounting for solvent effect by the polarized continuum model IEF-PCM. The accounting for solvation effects in calculations of ¹³C NMR chemical shifts within the framework of the IEF-PCM model is not fundamental for organochlorine compounds, yet it considerably improves the precision of calculations up to 2.5 ppm.     

GIAO/DFT evaluation of 13C NMR chemical shifts of selected acetals based on DFT optimized geometries

DFT/B3LYP calculations of the ground-state conformation of eight cyclic and acyclic acetals are presented and compared with experimental data. Results of single-point GIAO/DFT calculations at five different levels of theory show that isotropic shieldings need to be empirically scaled to achieve agreement with experimental chemical shifts. Statistical evaluation of data indicates that the most accurate prediction of 13C chemical shifts is achieved at the MPW1PW91/6-311G** level of theory. An empirical equation describing the relationship between delta values and shielding constants is postulated. This equation has been applied to the non-chair ground-state conformation of the six-membered acetonide and to the conformationally flexible benzodioxonine derivative. The agreement observed between the experimental and predicted chemical shifts shows that calculations at the MPW1PW91/6-311G** level of theory are adequate for addressing questions of conformation.     

The application of empirical methods of 13C NMR chemical shift prediction as a filter for determining possible relative stereochemistry

The reliable determination of stereocenters contained within chemical structures usually requires utilization of NMR data, chemical derivatization, molecular modeling, quantum‐mechanical (QM) calculations and, if available, X‐ray analysis. In this article, we show that the number of stereoisomers which need to be thoroughly verified, can be significantly reduced by the application of NMR chemical shift calculation to the full stereoisomer set of possibilities using a fragmental approach based on HOSE codes. The applicability of this suggested method is illustrated using experimental data published for a series of complex chemical structures. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantum-chemical calculations of NMR chemical shifts of organic molecules: XII. Calculation of the 13C NMR chemical shifts of fluoromethanes at the DFT level

Calculation was carried out of chemical shifts in ¹³C NMR spectra for a series of fluoromethanes CH _n F_4?n (n = 0–4) by the methods of the electron density functional theory GIAO-DFT taking in consideration the solvent effect in the framework of the polarizable continuum model Tomasi IEF-PCM. The best results were obtained at the use of Keal-Tozer KT3 functional combined with Pople standard basis sets 6-311G(d,p) and 6-311++G(d,p), and also with Jensen special set pcS-2 containing tight p-functions. The optimum reference in the calculation of chemical shifts in ¹³C NMR spectra for the fluoromethanes series is TMS.     

Interactions between pairs of antimalarial drugs studied by experimental and ab initio (13)C NMR chemical shifts

The interactions between the antimalarial drugs chloroquine (CQ) and amodiaquine (AQ), chloroquine and quinine (QN), and amodiaquine and quinine are studied by (13)C NMR. Experimental changes in chemical shift are compared to nucleus-independent chemical shifts to determine the best structure of the complex formed by each drug pair in solution. Structures of the CQ-AQ and CQ-QN complexes are found to be similar to those found previously for the drug dimers. On the other hand, the best solution structure for the AQ-QN complex suggests that the quinoline rings of the two drugs are at an angle with respect to each other.     

13C NMR chemical shifts of N-unsubstituted- and N-methyl-pyrazole derivatives

¹³C shielding data for 100 derivatives of pyrazole are reported. These include methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, tert-butyl, phenyl, hydroxymethyl, carboxyl, ethoxycarbonyl, cyano, amino, hydrazino, nitro, azido, chloro, bromo and iodo groups as substituents on the ring carbon atoms.     

13C n.m.r. of organosulphur compounds: II—13C chemical shifts and conformational analysis of methyl substituted thiacyclohexanes

¹³C n.m.r. spectra of methyl substituted thianes and thianium cations have been determined. The magnitude of the ¹³C substituent effects of an equatorial methyl group or of a gem-dimethyl grouping appear to depend in a systematic way on whether the carbon atom concerned is adjacent to, or removed from, the heteroatom. The shieldings are discussed in relation to the conformational properties of the thiane ring. Moreover, the average ¹³C substituent parameters obtained from conformationally biased systems are applied to potentially mobile systems to assess the position of the conformational equilibrium.     

Substituent effects on 13C chemical shifts of ketenimines: a GIAO/HF and DFT study

GIAO/HF and DFT methods were utilized to predict the ¹³C chemical shifts of substituted ketenimines. GIAO HF/6–311+G(2d,p) and B3LYP/6–311+G(2d,p) methods were applied on the optimized B3LYP/6–31G(d) geometries and ¹³C chemical shifts of C_α and C_β of substituted ketenimines were correlated with group electronegativities. HF and DFT calculations indicated that increasing substituent group electronegativity leads to increasing chemical shift of C_β of substituted ketenimines, whereas the C_α values decrease. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computational studies of 13C NMR chemical shifts of saccharides

The (13)C NMR chemical shifts for alpha-D-lyxofuranose, alpha-D-lyxopyranose (1)C(4), alpha-D-lyxopyranose (4)C(1), alpha-D-glucopyranose (4)C(1), and alpha-D-glucofuranose have been studied at ab initio and density-functional theory levels using TZVP quality basis set. The methods were tested by calculating the nuclear magnetic shieldings for tetramethylsilane (TMS) at different levels of theory using large basis sets. Test calculations on the monosaccharides showed B3LYP(TZVP) and BP86(TZVP) to be cost-efficient levels of theory for calculation of NMR chemical shifts of carbohydrates. The accuracy of the molecular structures and chemical shifts calculated at the B3LYP(TZVP) level is comparable to those obtained at the MP2(TZVP) level. Solvent effects were considered by surrounding the saccharides by water molecules and also by employing a continuum solvent model. None of the applied methods to consider solvent effects was successful. The B3LYP(TZVP) and MP2(TZVP)(13)C NMR chemical shift calculations yielded without solvent and rovibrational corrections an average deviation of 5.4 ppm and 5.0 ppm between calculated and measured shifts. A closer agreement between calculated and measured chemical shifts can be obtained by using a reference compound that is structurally reminiscent of saccharides such as neat methanol. An accurate shielding reference for carbohydrates can be constructed by adding an empirical constant shift to the calculated chemical shifts, deduced from comparisons of B3LYP(TZVP) or BP86(TZVP) and measured chemical shifts of monosaccharides. The systematic deviation of about 3 ppm for O(1)H chemical shifts can be designed to hydrogen bonding, whereas solvent effects on the (1)H NMR chemical shifts of C(1)H were found to be small. At the B3LYP(TZVP) level, the barrier for the torsional motion of the hydroxyl group at C(6) in alpha-D-glucofuranose was calculated to 7.5 kcal mol(-1). The torsional displacement was found to introduce large changes of up to 10 ppm to the (13)C NMR chemical shifts yielding uncertainties of about +/-2 ppm in the chemical shifts.     

Ab initio studies of NMR chemical shifts for calix[4]arene and its derivatives

Ab initio calculations are performed for the calix[4]arene (1) and its derivatives (2 and 3), in this study. ¹H and ¹³C NMR measured spectral data given in our previous work are used to elucidate the structures of the prepared calix[4]arenes (1–3). The molecular geometry and chemical shift are calculated by using ab initio calculations based on the Hartree-Fock (HF) and the density functional theory (DFT) in the ground state. The results obtained from both methods are in agreement with the experimental results. The results of molecular geometry and chemical shifts show that DFT approach is closer to the experimental data than HF method.