Abstract: | The 13C NMR spectra of four ortho- and seven para-quinone methides were assigned using chemical shift and long-range carbon-proton coupling information. The carbonyl shifts are compared with those in ortho- and para-benzoquinones. The chemical shifts of the carbonyls of the p-quinone methides are observed at δ 186.2–186.4 for the three ortho-di-tert-butyl-substituted compounds and at δ 180.7–181.5 for the four ortho-oxy-substituted compounds. In the three o-quinone methides with meta, para-dioxy substituents, the carbonyl signals are at δ 184.2–185.4. The carbonyl signal of the one o-quinone methide with no oxygen substitution is shifted downfield to δ 200.9, apparently as a result of hydrogen bonding to the nearby hydroxyl. |