Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 83. Correlated enantiomerization pathways for the stereolabile propeller antipodes of dimesityl substituted ethanol and ethers

Below -100 degrees C, the NMR spectra of dimesityl derivatives of ethanol and of various ethers reveal how these molecules exist as M and P propeller-like stereolabile enantiomers, owing to the restricted rotation about the Ar-C bond. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction of one such derivative confirmed the existence of a two-blade propeller structure. Computer analysis of the NMR line shape allowed the barriers for the enantiomerization process to be determined. Theoretical modeling (Molecular Mechanics) of the interconversion circuit produced good agreement between the computed and experimental barrier for a correlated dynamic process where a disrotatory one-ring flip pathway reverses the helicity of the conformational enantiomers. Introduction of a configurationally stable chiral center allowed two distinct NMR spectra to be detected at appropriate low temperature for two stereolabile diastereoisomers.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 89. Stereomutation and cryogenic enantioseparation of conformational antipodes of hindered aryl oximes

Aryl benzyl oximes having the configuration Z give rise to stereolabile atropisomers when a halogen atom is present in the ortho position of the aryl moiety, as a consequence of the restricted aryl-CN bond rotation. By means of dynamic (1)H NMR spectroscopy it has been possible to determine the corresponding rotation barrier, hence the lifetime of the atropisomers that, in the case of the iodine derivative, was found sufficiently long as to allow a physical separation to be achieved on an appropriately cooled enantioselective HPLC column. Comparison of the barriers determined by dynamic NMR and dynamic HPLC proved the equivalence of the two techniques. When the iodine atom was substituted by an alpha-naphthyl group, two dynamic processes were observed. That with the lower barrier could be determined by NMR and that with the higher barrier by HPLC, thus outlining the complementarity of these two techniques.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 78. Stereomutation of the helical enantiomers of trigonal carbon diaryl-substituted compounds: dimesitylketone, dimesitylthioketone, and dimesitylethylene.

The free energies of activation for the enantiomerization of the title compounds (Mes2C = X, Mes = 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) were determined by dynamic NMR to be 4.6, 6.5, and 9.2 kcal mol-1 for X = O, S, and CH2, respectively. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction showed that the structure of dimesitylketone is that of a propeller (C2 symmetry) with the mesityl rings twisted by 50 degrees with respect to the plane of carbonyl. The same structure was predicted by molecular mechanics calculations, which also produced good agreement between computed and experimental barriers for a dynamic process where a disrotatory one-ring flip pathway reverses the helicity of the conformational enantiomers. Solid-state NMR spectra indicated that the enantiomerization barrier in the crystal must be much higher (at least 19 kcal mol-1) than that in solution. Contrary to the case of dimesitylketone, the calculated barrier of dimesitylethylene agrees better with the experimental value if the enantiomerization process is assumed to be a conrotatory two-ring flip pathway.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 80.(1) cog-wheel effect in the stereolabile helical enantiomers of dimesityl sulfoxide and sulfone

The (1)H NMR solution spectra of the title compounds display anisochronous lines for the o-methyl substituents below -170 degrees C, due to the existence of two propeller-like M and P conformational enantiomers. The free energies of activation for the interconversion were determined to be 4.5 and 5.0 kcal mol(-)(1), respectively, for dimesityl sulfoxide and dimesityl sulfone. Molecular mechanics calculations indicate that the enantiomerization process occurs via a correlated rotation (cog-wheel effect) entailing a one-ring flip (gear-meshing) pathway. (13)C NMR (CP-MAS) spectra and X-ray diffraction show that these helical enantiomers are stable in the crystalline state.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 99. Experimental and computed determination of rotation barriers in the crystalline state: the case of naphthylphenylsulfoxide

The (13)C NMR CP-MAS spectrum of 2-naphthylphenylsulfoxide in the solid state displays line broadening effects due to the restricted rotation about the Ph-S bond. Line shape simulation of the temperature-dependent traces allowed the corresponding barrier to be determined in the solids (14.7 kcal mol(-1)). By making use of the information obtained from single-crystal X-ray diffraction, this barrier could be satisfactorily reproduced by theoretical calculations (14.5 kcal mol(-1)) that take into account the correlated phenyl motion involving a large set of molecules in the crystalline state     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 98. Stereodynamics of bond rotation in beta-hydroxyesters

The dynamic processes due to restricted intramolecular motions have been observed in a number of variously substituted beta-hydroxyesters by variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy. The barriers for three such processes (i.e. Ph-C, t-Bu-C, and C(alpha)-C(beta) bond rotation) have been measured.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. Part XV. The rotational barrier of N-methyl aniline

Low temperatures C-13 NMR spectra allowed the determination of the rotational barrier of N-methyl aniline in solution. The shifts of the anisochronous ortho and meta carbons were assigned by $\text{ab initio}$ calculations.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 90. Structure and stereodynamics of the rotamers of di- and tri-alpha-naphthylphenyl derivatives

The crystal structure of 1,3,5-tris(4-methylnaphth-1-yl)benzene, 1, shows one naphthyl substituent in an anti relationship to the other two. On the other hand, low temperature (-70 degrees C) (1)H NMR spectra in solution show the presence of a second rotational conformer (rotamer) having all the three naphthyl substituents in a syn relationship. The interconversion barrier between the anti (77%) and syn (23%) rotamers of 1 was determined by line shape simulation of the temperature-dependent NMR spectra (Delta G(++) = 12.1 kcal mol(-1)). In the analogous disubstituted meta and paraderivatives, that is, 1,3- and 1,4-bis(4-methylnaphth-1-yl)benzene (2 and 3, respectively), the presence of both the anti and syn rotamers was also detected by low-temperature NMR spectroscopy. In the latter compounds, the proportions of the anti and syn forms are nearly equal, and the corresponding anti to syn interconversion barriers were found to be lower (11.4 and 11.1(5) kcal mol(-1), respectively) than those of the trisubstituted derivative 1.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 91. Conformational stereodynamics of tetraethylmethane and analogous C(CH2X)4 compounds

Variable-temperature NMR studies of tetraethylmethane (1a), tetrapropylmethane (1b), tetrachloromethylmethane (1c), tetrabromomethylmethane (1d), tetracyclopropylmethylmethane (1e), and tetrabenzylmethane (1f) show a range of dynamic behavior. Separate signals for two types of conformation are observed for 1a, 1c, and 1d at low temperatures, with more than 95% of the molecules in a time-averaged D2d conformation, and the S4 conformation as the minor populated alternative. Compound 1e populates only S4-type conformations but equilibrates slowly between degenerate versions of these at low temperatures. Compounds 1b and 1f show a temperature-dependent spectrum but the low-temperature limit spectrum could not be observed. Ab initio calculations agree well with experiment on the conformational equilibria and suggest in particular that compounds 1b and 1f behave similarly to compounds 1a and 1e, respectively. A crystal structure of compound 1f is reported.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 100. Enantiomerization process of stereolabile atropisomers in pyridine-substituted adamantane derivatives

The barriers for interconverting the conformational enantiomers (stereolabile atropisomers) of pyridine-substituted adamantane derivatives have been determined by dynamic 13C NMR spectroscopy. The trend of these values parallels that anticipated by MM calculations. In at least one case, the computed structure was found to agree with that obtained by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In addition, it has been possible to achieve a physical separation of a pair of these stereolabile atropisomers at -60 degrees C by means of the enantioselective cryogenic HPLC technique.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR—28 : Stereomutations in some di-, tri- and tetraalkylhydrazines

Low temperature NMR spectra allowed us to “freeze” some of the internal motions in a number of di-, tri- and tetraalkylhydrazines and to measure the corresponding free energies of activation. In particular, tetramethylhydrazine (Me₂N-NMe₂) was found to have, at - 150°, two pairs of diastereotopic methyls : this is due to the fact that both N-inversion and N,N-rotation are slow at this temperature and that a gauche conformation is adopted. The observed barrier (6.0 kcal mol^-1) has been attributed to N,N-rotation, the barrier due to N-inversion being higher and not measurable via NMR in the presence of a concomitant fast rotation. In other cases, notably PrⁱMeN-NH₂, Me₂N-NPrⁱ₂ and Prⁱ₂N-NHMe, two different motions (inversion and rotation) were detected. In the case of Me₂N-NHMe it was also possible to observe the first example of anisochronous behaviour of nitrogen-bonded methyls (Me₂N) induced by an aminic nitrogen that becomes chiral at low temperature.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 97. Structure, conformation, stereodynamics and enantioseparation of aryl substituted norbornanes

The structure of a 1,7,7-triaryl norbornane (compound 3) has been determined by X-ray diffraction and was found essentially equal to that predicted by molecular mechanics calculations. Restricted rotation of the aryl groups also has been observed by dynamic NMR spectroscopy in this compound and in a number of analogously substituted norbornanes. The aryl-norbornane bond rotation barriers were measured by line shape analysis of the (13)C NMR spectra obtained at temperatures lower than -100 degrees C and were found to cover the range 6.0 to 7.9 kcal mol(-1). An exception was the rotation involving the o-anisyl group in compound 5, which occurs near ambient temperature since the corresponding barrier is much higher (14.4 kcal mol(-1)). In one case (compound 4) configurational enantiomers could be separated by chiral HPLC and the corresponding CD spectra recorded.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR—VI: Torsional barriers in 5-membered heteroaromatic carbamides and thiocarbamides

Thermodynamie parameters involved in the rotation of the partial C-N double bond in a series of 5-membered heteroaromatic N,N-dimethyl-carbamides and -thiocarbamides have been measured by total line shape (TLS) analysis of their NMR. Lanthanide induced shift (LIS) has been applied in two cases to determine the conformation of the CO moiety with respect to the heteroatom. The energy barriers of thiazolyl carbamides and thiocarbamides were found to be larger than those of furyl and thienyl analogues, and explained in terms of a perturbational molecular orbital analysis.     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 94.1 cogwheel pathway for the stereomutations of durene derivatives containing the mesityl ring

The low-temperature NMR spectra of 1,4-bis(mesitoyl)durene, 1, and of 1,4-bis(mesitylethenyl)durene, 2, reveal the presence of syn and anti rotamers at the equilibrium, their relative proportions depending on the dielectric constant of the solvent. In solution the more stable rotamer of 1 is the anti whereas, in the case of 2, the more stable is the syn. Depending on the crystallization solvent employed the more (anti) and the less stable (syn) rotamers were both observed (X-ray diffraction) in the solid state of 1. On the other hand, only the less stable rotamer (anti) was found to be present in the solid state of 2. As shown by MM calculations, the syn-to-anti interconversion occurs via a correlated process (cogwheel pathway) involving the mesityl-C and durene-C bond rotations: the dynamic NMR technique yields an experimental barrier of 8.2 kcal mol(-)(1) for 1 and 13.1 kcal mol(-)(1) for 2. In the case of derivative 2 a second barrier, due to a second type of correlated rotation process (torsion), was also determined (8.6 kcal mol(-)(1)). As a consequence of the restriction of this second torsional motion the anti rotamer of 2 displays two distinguishable NMR spectra at -133 degrees C, corresponding to a pair of conformers with different symmetry (anti C(i)() and anti C(2)).     

Conformational studies by dynamic NMR. 95. Rotation around the adamantyl-alkyl bond. Remote substituent effect on conformational equilibrium

Restricted rotation has been observed by NMR spectroscopy at very low temperature in isopropyladamantane, 1-tert-butyl-3-isopropyladamantane, and 1,3-diisopropyladamantane. The barriers for the corresponding dynamic processes were also determined. In the case of the disubstituted adamantane derivatives, two and four conformers, respectively, were observed and they were assigned on the basis of the symmetry properties. The relative populations deviate from the statistical distribution.