C CP MAS NMR, FTIR, X-ray diffraction and PM3 studies of some N-(ω-carboxyalkyl)morpholine hydrohalides

N-(ω-carboxyalkyl)morpholine hydrochlorides, OC₄H₈N(CH₂)_nCOOH·HCl, n=1–5, were obtained and analyzed by ¹³C cross polarization (CP) magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR, FTIR and PM3 calculations. The structure of N-(3-carboxypropyl)morpholine hydrochloride (n=3) has been solved by X-ray diffraction method at 100 K and refined to the R=0.031. The crystals are monoclinic, space group P2₁/c, a=14.307(3), b=9.879(2), c=7.166(1) Å, β=93.20(3)°, V=1011.3(3) ų, Z=4. In this compound the nitrogen atom is protonated and two molecules form a centrosymmetric dimer, connected by two N⁺–HCl⁻ (3.095(1) Å) and two O–HCl⁻ (3.003(1) Å) hydrogen bonds. ¹³C CP MAS NMR spectra, contrary to the solution, showed non-equivalence of the ring carbon atoms. The PM3 calculations predict a molecular dimer without proton transfer for an HCl complex, while for an HBr complex an ion pairs with proton transfer, and reproduces correctly the conformation of both dimers but overestimates H-bond distances. Shielding constants calculated from the PM3 geometry of ion pairs gave a linear correlation with the ¹³C chemical shifts in solids.