Ab initio quantum-mechanical calculations on trifluoromethylamine

Extensive ab initio molecular-orbital calculations were carried out on trifluoromethylamine (TFM) to elucidate changes in geometry and electronic structure upon fluorination. The calculations show that the decomposition of CF₃NH₂ is slightly endoenergetic, and the heats of atomization of CF₃NH₂ and CH₃NH₂ show decreased stability of the species upon fluorination. Characteristic of CF₃NH₂ is a highly polar, strong, short CN bond. More limited calculations were carried out on CF₃OH and CH₃OH, and the electronic structure of CF₃OH is found to be generally similar to that of CF₃NH₂. The reduced basicity of the fluorinated amine cannot be ascribed to the inductive effect; the enhanced acidity of the fluorinated alcohol reflects the weakening of the OH bond. No evidence leads to a confirmation of the existence of nitrogen–fluorine hyperconjugation in the fluorinated amine.     

Longitudinal nuclear relaxation measurements in hcp H2

Measurements of T₁ in the hep phase of H₂, over the temperature range 2°–12°K and the ortho concentration range between 0.5 and 0.97 are presented. At temperatures below 10°K, the thermally activated self-diffusion is negligible and the mechanism for nuclear relaxation is that attributed by Moryia and Motizuki and by Harris to intramolecular dipolar interaction, modulated by intennolecular electric quadrupole-quadrupole (EQQ) interaction. The gaussian approximation for the correlation function was used by these authors to predict T₁. From the comparison between experiment and theory, we determine the EQQ parameter Γ/k_B to be 0.67°K. Above 10°K the effect of diffusion influences T₁, and the experimental results for an 88 per cent ortho H₂ sample up to the melting point suggest that the relaxation mechanisms resulting from EQQ interaction and diffusion are not independent of one another.     

The acid catalysed rearrangement of a diterpenoid epoxide

A study has been made of the principal rearrangement products resulting from formic acid treatment of 19-hydroxy-ent-beyerene epoxide (3). In concentrated solutions 3 has been found to undergo a deep seated rearrangement to the allylic alcohol (14). A mechanism for the formation of 14 is proposed involving a novel 1,4-hydride shift in the bicyclo[3:2:1]octane C/D ring system following cleavage of the C₁₅O bond. Supporting evidence has been obtained from a study of the specifically labelled epoxide (4), the deuterium in 14 appearing exclusively at C₁₂. Four products (7 and 11–13) emanating from the known beyerane → kaurane interconversion have been identified.