New N′-alkylidene/cycloalkylidene derivatives of 5-methyl-3-phenyl-1H-indole-2-carbohydrazide: synthesis, crystal structure, and quantum mechanical calculations

The condensation products of 5-methyl-3-phenyl-1H-indole-2-carbohydrazide (1) with 2-butanone, 3-pentanone and cyclopentanone were prepared. The adducts (2a-c) were characterized by microanalysis, UV, IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and EI mass spectrometry. ¹H NMR spectra of 2a and 2b revealed rotational restriction about the C–N bond in solution (DMSO-d₆) and displayed double resonances associated with the CH₃ and CH₂CH₃ residues of the alkylidene moieties. A variable temperature ¹H NMR experiment was run on 2a to overcome the rotational barriers and thus determine the coalescence temperature but no coalescence was observed up to 77 °C. The structural analysis of 2a and 2c were also carried out by single crystal X-ray diffraction and confirmed by theoretical calculations (semiempirical PM3 and ab initio RHF/6-31G(d)).