1H NMR studies of solvent effects on hydrogen bonding in some pyridine trifluoroacetates

The chemical shifts of hydrogen bonded protons in complexes of 11 substituted pyridines with trifluoroacetic acid were examined, in five dry solvents of different activity, with respect to proton transfer and aggregation effects. The results were correlated with ΔpK_a, the Kirkwood function and E _T parameters. The solvent effect on the intersection point obtained from the plot of the chemical shift of the hydrogen bonded protons against ΔpK_a can be used, similar to an isotopic effect, to differentiate strong hydrogen bonds. The aggregation of acid–base complexes can lead to downfield or upfield shifts; the variation of chemical shift with aggregation depends on the position of the proton in the hydrogen bridge.