A carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance study of the basicities of aliphatic alcohols

Carbon-13 nmr chemical shifts have been used to determine the basicity constants for nine alcohols. The method involves comparing the chemical shifts for carbon atoms adjacent to the site of protonation with those for carbon atoms in a more remote position. The differences in the chemical shifts (Δ values) at different acidities are then used to calculate basicity constants for the alcohols. The pKBH+ values, determined by use of the "X function" are as follows: ethanol −2.12, 1-propanol −2.12, 3-chloro-1-propanol −2.24, 2-chloroethanol −2.45, 2-bromoethanol −2.41, 2-nitroethanol −2.09, 2-methoxyethanol −1.93, 2-phenoxyethanol −1.87, and 2-propanol −2.06. The typical slope parameter, m*, is 0.17. Two linear free energy correlations are obtained: when the alcohols are considered to be a series of monosubstituted ethanols, the Hammett plot has a slope of 0.65; when they are considered to be a series of mono- and disubstituted methanols, the slope is 1.7. Alcohols bearing oxygen-containing substituents are more basic than predicted by about 0.5 pK units, presumably because their conjugate acids can be stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bonding.