C3(SINGLE BOND)Mα Bond contribution to polarizability tensor and 3J(C1Mα) NMR coupling constant in 1-X-3-M-bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes

In the present work, the relationship between the large substituent effects on ³J(C₁H) in 1-X-3-M-bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes, I , and the polarizability of the bridgehead C₃(SINGLE BOND)M_α bond is investigated. The existence of such a relationship is suggested by the finding that the effect of an electronegative substituent X on ³J(C₁M_α) couplings in I (M=H) is due to a distortion of the C₃(SINGLE BOND)H bond toward the C₁ center, which enhances the Fermi contact interaction. If such distortion originates in an electrostatic effect, then in other members of this series it can be expected that the substituent effects on ³J(C₁M_α) couplings should depend strongly on the C₃(SINGLE BOND)M_α bond polarizability. Two approaches are followed. First, the ab initio CLOPPA-IPPP method is applied to study the C₃(SINGLE BOND)M_α bond contribution to the molecular static polarizability tensor in I (M=H, F, CH₃). Such bond polarizabilities are found to follow the same trend as calculated as well as experimentally determined substituent effects on ³J(C₁M_α) couplings, which were measured as part of this work in I [X=H, Cl; M=F, CH₃ and X=OCH₃; M=Sn(CH₃)₃]. Second, ³J(C₁M_α) couplings (M=H, CH₃) are calculated at an ab initio level for X=H, F, and they are compared with those obtained in the parent compound (X=H) if the calculation is carried out in the presence of an inhomogeneous electric field. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 181–188, 1998