Nuclear magnetic resonance studies. XXXI. Rearrangement and deuterium exchange through β-enolization in bicyclooctanones. An 2H nuclear magnetic resonance study.

The bicyclo[2.2.2]octan-2-one and -[3.2.1]octan-6-one skeletons are interconvertible under strongly basic conditions. Their α,α-dimethyl derivatives in tert-Buo−/tert-BuOH at 185 °C undergo very slow interconversion by β-proton abstraction. Using 2H nmr the stereoselectivity of deuterium incorporation at the β-methylene sites was established. The relative reactivities of β-methyl exchange in the [3.2.1] system were also determined. As models for this process, exchange in the α,α,α′,α′-tetramethyl derivatives of the monocyclic ketones, C5–C8, was also studied.