Conformational behaviour of 3-phenyl- and 3-carbomethoxy-substituted cyclopropene derivatives

According to MNDO calculated heats of formation for various 3-substituted cyclopropenes the π-acceptor methoxycarbonyl as well as the π-donor group phenyl both prefer a non-bisected orientation with respect to the three-membered ring. Temperature dependent NMR chemical shifts seem to confirm this behaviour for the free molecules. In the crystalline state, however, 1,2,3-triphenylcyclopropene (3e) and 3-isopropyl-1,2,3-triphenylcyclopropene (3f) both adopt a conformation with a bisected orientation of the 3-phenyl groups.