Novel synthesis of 2-naphthol Mannich bases and their NMR behaviour
A novel two-step procedure involving the formation of 1-arylidene-2-tetralones from 2-tetralone and subsequent Michael addition of a cyclic secondary amine on the alkenone followed by in situ aerial oxidation was developed to produce 2-naphthol Mannich bases. A simple microwave-assisted one-pot synthesis of 2-naphthol Mannich bases was also carried out under solvent-free conditions from 2-naphthol and corresponding aldehydes and amines in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid. The compounds of this series displayed interesting NMR behaviour. Extensive variable-temperature NMR investigations, including HSQC experiments, are herein reported. NMR results on the conformation in solution phase were found to be consistent with the X-ray crystal structure in the solid state.Key words: Mannich bases, microwave-assisted Mannich reaction, temperature-variable NMR spectroscopy, NMR dynamics, X-ray crystallography.