Fluoro-α-amino acids. 1—use of 19F NMR spectroscopy for the configurational determination of β-fluoro-α-amino acids through complexation by 18-crown-6 ether

Erythro and threo configurational assignments have been made for 11 β-fluoro-α-amino acids or esters using the effect of complexation of the ammonium group by 18-crown-6 ether on the ¹⁹F NMR parameters. For the erythro configurations, ³J(HF) increases and a high-field ¹⁹F chemical shift is generally observed; these phenomena are accompanied by a decrease in ³J(HH) and ³J(CF). The opposite effects are observed for the threo configurations. These observations can be explained by a change in the relative population of the conformers around the Cα-Cβ bond on complexation of the ammonium group. This complexation impairs the interactions between the ammonium and fluorine groups and, concomitantly, the steric hindrance between the ammonium and R (methyl, phenyl or carboxylate) groups is increased.