The conformational behaviour of a series of N-substituted thiohydantoins of proline was studied by proton NMR. The pseudorotational parameters of the proline moiety were calculated from the ten vicinal proton-proton coupling constants assuming a two state equilibrium (N ⇋ S). The effect of the different substituents (methyl, phenyl, para-nitrophenyl) at the thiohydantoin nitrogen on the conformation of the pyrrolidine rings is discussed. The spectra of proline-N-methylthiohydantoin were recorded at different temperatures in octadeuterotoluene solution. The conformational analysis of these spectra showed that the ratio of the populations of the N and S forms changes considerably with temperature, while the conformational identity of both the N and S forms remains strictly preserved. These facts provide an additional experimental justification of the two-state assumption, at least so for the present model compounds.
