Long‐Range Residual Dipolar Couplings: A Tool for Determining the Configuration of Small Molecules

Together with NOE and J coupling, one‐bond residual dipolar coupling (RDC), which reports on the three‐dimensional orientation of an internuclear vector in the molecular frame, plays an important role in the conformation and configuration analysis of small molecules in solution by NMR spectroscopy. When the molecule has few C? H bonds, or too many bonds are in parallel, the available RDCs may not be sufficient to obtain the alignment tensor used for structure elucidation. Long‐range RDCs that connect nuclei over multiple bonds are normally not parallel to the single bonds and therefore complement one‐bond RDCs. Herein we present a method for extracting the long‐range RDC of a chosen proton or group of protons to all remotely connected carbon atoms, including non‐protonated carbon atoms. Alignment tensors fitted directly to the total long‐range couplings (T=J+D) enabled straightforward analysis of both the long‐range and one‐bond RDCs for strychnine.     

Giant Residual Dipolar 13C–1H Couplings in High‐Spin Organoiron Complexes: Elucidation of Their Structures in Solution by 13C NMR Spectroscopy

High‐spin Fe^II–alkyl complexes with bis(pyridylimino)isoindolato ligands were synthesized and their paramagnetic ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra were analyzed comprehensively. The experimental ¹³C—¹H coupling values are temperature (T^?1)‐ as well as magnetic‐field (B²)‐dependent and deviate considerably from typical scalar ¹J_CH couplings constants. This deviation is attributed to residual dipolar couplings (RDCs), which arise from partial alignment of the complexes in the presence of a strong magnetic field. The analysis of the experimental RDCs allows an unambiguous assignment of all ¹³C NMR resonances and, additionally, a structural refinement of the conformation of the complexes in solution. Moreover the RDCs can be used for the analysis of the alignment tensor and hence the tensor of the anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility.     

Measurement of Residual Dipolar Couplings of Organic Molecules in Multiple Solvent Systems Using a Liquid‐Crystalline‐Based Medium

Residual dipolar coupling (RDC), a robust anisotropic NMR parameter for structural elucidation of organic molecules, is only accessible in an anisotropic environment. Herein, we introduce a novel alignment medium based on the molecular self‐assembly of oligopeptide amphiphile (OPA). This medium is compatible with different intermediate and polar solvent systems, such as CD₃OD, [D₆]DMSO, and D₂O. The preparation of the OPA‐based medium is simple and rapid, while only very weak background signals were observed from OPAs. Furthermore, we show that the purity of OPA has only a minor influence on the quality of the RDC data. These advantages allow RDC measurements of organic molecules with different polarities and solubilities with high efficiency and accuracy.     

Conformational Analysis of the Anti‐obesity Drug Lorcaserin in Water: How To Take Advantage of Long‐Range Residual Dipolar Couplings

The conformational state of 8‐chloro‐1‐methyl‐2,3,4,5‐tetrahydro‐1H‐3‐benzazepine hydrochloride (lorcaserin) in water has been determined on the basis of one‐bond and long‐range C? H residual dipolar coupling (RDC) data along with DFT computations and ³J_HH coupling‐constant analysis. According to this analysis, lorcaserin exists as a conformational equilibrium of two crown‐chair forms, of which the preferred conformation has the methyl group in an equatorial orientation.     

Measurement of Residual Dipolar Couplings of Organic Molecules in Multiple Solvent Systems Using a Liquid-Crystalline-Based Medium

Residual dipolar coupling (RDC), a robust anisotropic NMR parameter for structural elucidation of organic molecules, is only accessible in an anisotropic environment. Herein, we introduce a novel alignment medium based on the molecular self-assembly of oligopeptide amphiphile (OPA). This medium is compatible with different intermediate and polar solvent systems, such as CD₃OD, [D₆]DMSO, and D₂O. The preparation of the OPA-based medium is simple and rapid, while only very weak background signals were observed from OPAs. Furthermore, we show that the purity of OPA has only a minor influence on the quality of the RDC data. These advantages allow RDC measurements of organic molecules with different polarities and solubilities with high efficiency and accuracy.     

Protein Conformational Flexibility from Structure‐Free Analysis of NMR Dipolar Couplings: Quantitative and Absolute Determination of Backbone Motion in Ubiquitin

A robust procedure for the determination of protein‐backbone motions on time scales of pico‐ to milliseconds directly from residual dipolar couplings has been developed that requires no additional scaling relative to external references. The results for ubiquitin (blue in graph: experimental N? HN order parameters) correspond closely to the amplitude, nature, and distribution of motion found in a 400 ns molecular‐dynamics trajectory of ubiquitin (red).

     

A General Method for Extracting Individual Coupling Constants from Crowded 1H NMR Spectra

Couplings between protons, whether scalar or dipolar, provide a wealth of structural information. Unfortunately, the high number of ¹H‐¹H couplings gives rise to complex multiplets and severe overlap in crowded spectra, greatly complicating their measurement. Many different methods exist for disentangling couplings, but none approaches optimum resolution. Here, we present a general new 2D J‐resolved method, PSYCHEDELIC, in which all homonuclear couplings are suppressed in F₂, and only the couplings to chosen spins appear, as simple doublets, in F₁. This approaches the theoretical limit for resolving ¹H‐¹H couplings, with close to natural linewidths and with only chemical shifts in F₂. With the same high sensitivity and spectral purity as the parent PSYCHE pure shift experiment, PSYCHEDELIC offers a robust method for chemists seeking to exploit couplings for structural, conformational, or stereochemical analyses.     

Precise Measurement of Long‐Range Heteronuclear Coupling Constants by a Novel Broadband Proton–Proton‐Decoupled CPMG‐HSQMBC Method

A broadband proton–proton‐decoupled CPMG‐HSQMBC method for the precise and direct measurement of long‐range heteronuclear coupling constants is presented. The Zangger–Sterk‐based homodecoupling scheme reported herein efficiently removes unwanted proton–proton splittings from the heteronuclear multiplets, so that the desired heteronuclear couplings can be determined simply by measuring frequency differences between singlet maxima in the resulting spectra. The proposed pseudo‐1D/2D pulse sequences were tested on nucleotides, a metal complex incorporating P heterocycles, and diglycosyl (di)selenides, as well as on other carbohydrate derivatives, for the extraction of ⁿJ(¹H,³¹P), ⁿJ(¹H,⁷⁷Se), and ⁿJ(¹H,¹³C) values, respectively.     

Determination of the Absolute Configuration of Super‐Carbon‐Chain Compounds by a Combined Chemical,Spectroscopic, and Computational Approach: Gibbosols A and B

Marine dinoflagellates produce remarkable organic molecules, particularly those with polyoxygenated long‐carbon‐chain backbones, namely super‐carbon‐chain compounds (SCCCs), characterized by the presence of numerous stereogenic carbon centers on acyclic polyol carbon chains. Even today, it is a challenge to determine the absolute configurations of these compounds. In this work, the planar structures and absolute configurations of two highly flexible SCCCs, featuring either a C₆₉‐ or C₇₁‐linear carbon backbone, gibbosols A and B, respectively, each containing thirty‐seven stereogenic carbon centers, were unambiguously established by a combined chemical, spectroscopic, and computational approach. The discovery of gibbosols A and B with two hydrophilic acyclic polyol chains represents an unprecedented class of SCCCs. A reasonable convergent strategy for the biosynthesis of these SCCCs was proposed.     

DFT 1H–1H coupling constants in the conformational analysis and stereoisomeric differentiation of 6‐heptenyl‐2H‐pyran‐2‐ones: configurational reassignment of synargentolide A

Density functional theory (DFT) ¹H–¹H NMR coupling constant calculations, including solvation parameters with the polarizable continuum model B3LYP/DGDZVP basis set together with the experimental values measured by spectral simulation, were used to predict the configuration of hydroxylated 6‐heptenyl‐5,6‐dihydro‐2H‐pyran‐2‐ones 1 , 2 , 4 , and 7 , allowing epimer differentiation. Modeling of these flexible compounds requires the inclusion of solvation models that account for stabilizing interactions derived from intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonds, in contrast with peracetylated derivatives ( 3 , 5 , and 6 ) in which the solvation consideration can be omitted. Using this DFT NMR integrated approach as well as spectral simulation, the configurational reassignment of synargentolide A ( 8 ) was accomplished by calculations in the gas phase among four possible diastereoisomers ( 8–11 ). Calculated ³J_H,H values established its configuration as 6R‐[4′S,5′S,6′S‐(triacetyloxy)‐2E‐heptenyl]‐5,6‐dihydro‐2H‐pyran‐2‐one ( 8 ), in contrast with the incorrect 6R,4′R,5′R,6′R‐diastereoisomer previously proposed by synthesis ( 12 ). Application of this approach increases the probability for successful enantiospecific total syntheses of flexible compounds with multiple chiral centers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.