Dynamic 19F NMR studies The torsional barrier in pentafluorobenzaldehyde,its conjugate acid and protonated pentafluoroacetophenone

An upper limit of the barrier to internal rotation around the phenyl-carbonyl bond in pentalfluorobenzaldehyde dissolved in a freon mixture has been estimated from low temperature ₁₉F NMR study. Protonation of this compound increases drastically the free energy of activation ΔG≠. Complete lineshape analysis leads to ΔG≠ (273 K) = 60.4 kJ/mol, comparable to the value obtained for protonated benzaldehyde. This result, as well as those obtained by CNDO/2 calculations support the conclusions that protonated pentafluorobenzaldehyde is planar in the ground state. This is not the case for protonated pentafluoroacetophenone in which the lower barrier height when compared to protonated acetophenon has been related to the steric strain and dipole repulsion.