Conformational signature of Ishikawa´s reagent using NMR information from diastereotopic fluorines.

The active species of the Ishikawa´s reagent [N,N-diethyl-(1,1,2,3,3,3-hexafluoropropyl)amine] is a fluorinating hexafluoropropylamine used to convert alcohols into alkyl fluorides. On the other hand, it is also an example of model compound useful to probe conformational preferences using spectroscopic information from diastereotopic fluorines. Moreover, the possibility of experiencing both the generalized anomeric and gauche effects makes the Ishikawa´s reagent an ideal choice to study the governing stereoelectronic interactions of the conformational equilibrium of organofluorine compounds. The conformational equilibrium of the Ishikawa´s reagent was analyzed using NMR 3 J H,F coupling constant data in different solvents, since the orientation of the diastereotopic fluorines relative to H-2 and F-2 changes with the medium. In nonpolar cyclohexane solvent, the preferred conformation experiences a weaker steric and electrostatic repulsion. The conformational behavior changes in the more polar pyridine solution, where the double fluorine gauche effect takes place, since F-2 is preferably gauche to both diastereotopic fluorines. An analysis of the rotation around the N-C(F2) bond indicates the manifestation of anomeric interactions (n N → σ*C-F), which can be demonstrated by means of 19F chemical shifts. The results were rationalized with the aid of theoretical calculations and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis, allowing for the evaluation of competing steric, electrostatic and hyperconjugative interactions.

Influence of stereoelectronic effects on the 1 JC─F spin-spin coupling constant in fluorinated heterocyclic compounds.

The Perlin effect and its analog for fluorinated compounds (the fluorine Perlin-like effect) manifest on one-bond C─H (C─F for the fluorine Perlin-like effect) spin-spin coupling constants (SSCCs) in six-membered rings. These effects can be useful to probe the stereochemistry (axial or equatorial) of the C─H and C─F bonds, respectively. The origin of these effects has been debatable in the literature as being due to hyperconjugative interactions, dipolar effects, and induced current density. Accordingly, a variety of model compounds has been used to probe such effects since the cyclohexanone carbonyl group and the endocyclic heteroatom lone pairs play different roles on the above-mentioned effects. Thus, the 1 JC─F SSCC in fluorinated lactams and lactones were theoretically studied to gain further insight on the nature of the fluorine Perlin-like effect. In addition, because the intramolecular α-effect has recently gained attention for its importance in the reactivity and stereoelectronic interactions in peroxide compounds, some fluorinated 1,2-dioxanes and 1,2-dithianes were studied to evaluate the role of the α-effect on the behavior of 1 JC─F SSCCs. Differently from fluorinated ketones and ethers, the fluorine Perlin-like effect in the amides and esters cannot be explained by hyperconjugative or dipolar interactions alone, because the resonance in these groups affect the 1 JC─F values. The O─O and S─S-containing systems exhibit a strong fluorine Perlin-like effect, but unlike the α-effect, this behavior cannot be explained neither by hyperconjugation nor by dipolar interactions alone; the spatial proximity of the C─F and O─O/S─S bonds is proposed to affect the magnitude of the 1 JC─F SSCC.

Infrared Fingerprints of nN → σ*NH Hyperconjugation in Hydrazides.

An earlier study demonstrated that hyperconjugation operates in hydrazides by analyzing the N-H stretching mode in gas phase infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and then observing two very distinct bands corresponding to isolated isomers experiencing or not the nN → σ*N-H electron delocalization. The present work reports a chemical method to obtain insight on the hyperconjugation in hydrazide derivatives from solution IR spectroscopy. The analogous amides did not show a νN-H red-shifted band, as the electron donor orbital in the above hyperconjugative interaction does not exist. In addition, the effect of electron withdrawing groups bonded to a nitrogen atom, namely the trifluoroacetyl and the methanesulfonyl groups, was analyzed on the conformational isomerism and on the ability to induce a stronger hyperconjugation in the resulting compounds.

Conformational Exploration of Enflurane in Solution and in a Biological Environment.

Enflurane is a fluorinated volatile anesthetic, whose bioactive conformation is not known. Actually, a few studies have reported on the conformations of enflurane in nonpolar solution and gas phase. The present computational and spectroscopic (infrared and NMR) work shows that three pairs of isoenergetic conformers take place in the gas phase, neat liquid, polar, and nonpolar solutions. According to docking studies, a single conformation is largely preferred over its isoenergetic isomers to complex with the active site of Integrin LFA-1 enzyme (PDB code: 3F78 ), where the widely used anesthetic isoflurane (a constitutional isomer of enflurane) is known to bind. Weak hydrogen bonding from an electrostatic interaction between the CHF2 hydrogen and the central CF2 fluorines was not found to rule the conformational isomerism of enflurane. Moreover, intramolecular interactions based on steric, electrostatic, and hyperconjugative effects usually invoked to describe the anomeric effect are not responsible for the possible bioactive conformation of enflurane, which is rather governed by the enzyme induced fit.

Endocyclic oxygen in 3-fluorodihydro-2H-pyran-4(3H)-one that does not induce the gauche effect.

2-Fluorocyclohexanone undergoes chair inversion, giving rise to axial and equatorial conformers, with the equatorial form being highly preferred in solution, for example, 87% in chloroform and 93% in methylene chloride. Modifications in the conformational preferences can modify macroscopic properties of 2-fluoro ketones. The introduction of an endocyclic oxygen in 2-fluorocyclohexanone to give 3-fluorodihydro-2H-pyran-4(3H)-one would be expected to create a gauche effect in the axial conformer along with the O-C-C-F moiety, inducing an increase of its population. However, small changes were verified in the conformational populations both in the gas phase and solution because the carbonyl group plays an important role for the hyperconjugation in the equatorial conformer, despite experiencing strong dipolar repulsion with the fluorine atom. These data were obtained theoretically and by NMR spectroscopy, while the nature of the interactions governing these conformational shifts were investigated on the basis of natural bond orbital analysis.

The preferred all-gauche conformations in 3-fluoro-1,2-propanediol.

A competition between the terminal fluorine and hydroxyl groups by the central hydroxyl group as hydrogen bond donor in 3-fluoro-1,2-propanediol would be expected to dictate the conformational isomerism of this compound, but also the repulsion between the electronegative and bulky vicinal substituents. Indeed, an intramolecular hydrogen bond has been verified only for a local minimum using QTAIM calculations, while the most stable conformer exhibits an all-gauche conformation with a small stabilizing contribution from the nF→σ interaction. The preferred orientation of the OH and F substituents was confirmed from the chemical shifts and coupling constants of the diastereotopic hydrogens. This conformational preference, which is calculated to exist both in the gas phase and solution (using implicit CHCl3 and CH3CN solvents), is better described by predominant hyperconjugative interactions over Lewis-type interactions. The strong contribution from antiperiplanar interactions involving σCH and σCC as electron donors and σ and σ as electron acceptors dictates the gauche effect in 3-fluoro-1,2-propanediol rather than a hydrogen bond. The absence of JF,H(O) and JH(O),H(O) coupling constants confirms that any influence from a hydrogen bond to the conformational isomerism of 3-fluoro-1,2-propanediol is secondary.