The conformational behaviour of methylenecyclohexanes revisited

Conformational analyses on 2-substituted (methoxy, vinyloxy, and acetoxy) methylenecyclohexanes have been performed computationally with HF, B3LYP, PBE0, and MP2 and the 6-31G(d) basis set. The global minimum for the methoxy substituent is an axial conformer. For the vinyloxy substituent, except with PBE0, an axial conformer is determined as the global minimum. The acetoxy substituent prefers the equatorial orientation. This sequence is in keeping with the operation of an "unsaturation effect" in addition to an anomeric effect. For a full conformational analysis, torsional potentials for the substituents have been generated, which show further low-energy minima, which affect the equilibrium composition. In general, axial conformers dominate the equilibria. To reproduce the experimentally observed predominance of equatorial conformers for vinyloxy and acetoxy substituents, PBE0 has to be employed. CSGT isotropic shielding tensors at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p)//B3LYP/6-31G(d) level have been employed for comparison with experimentally observed 13C chemical shifts.Key words: conformational analysis, methylenecyclohexanes, anomeric effect, unsaturation effect.

Dicyclohexylethyleneglycol, -diethyleneglycol, -triethyleneglycol, and related monosubstituted cyclohexanes. Conformational analysis using low-temperature 13C and 1H NMR spectroscopy

Two conformations of each of the title molecules have been detected by 100 MHz 13C NMR at 210 K. For the dicyclohexyl systems, the conformations are related via a single ring inversion. In each case the equatorial–axial conformer is 4.7 ± 0.4 kJ/mol less stable than the diequatorially substituted form in CD2Cl2 solution. For monosubstituted models, the conformational free energy (−ΔG0) values of the -O-CH2-CH2-OCH3, -OCH2-CH2-O-CH2-CH3, and -O-CH2-CH2-O-CH-(CH3)2 groups have been determined to be 5.4,6.1, and 6.1 ± 0.2 kJ/mol, respectively. In methanol, the latter equilibria are slightly more biased towards the axially substituted conformers. Keywords: substituted ethylene glycols, conformational equilibria.

An X-ray and conformational study of 5,7-dihydro-1,11-dimethyl-6H-dibenzo[a,c]cyclohepten-6-one and its methyl derivatives

The crystal structures for the title compound 1 and its α-methyl derivatives 2–4 have been determined. Molecular mechanics calculations of the conformation of minimum energy for 1, 3, and 4 correspond closely to the symmetric structures observed in the crystal. For 2, rotation at the CO—CH2 bond by 24° produced an asymmetric conformation matching that seen in the solid state. The calculated changes in energy as a function of the torsional angle for 1 and 2 were compared with those for cyclohexanone and the axial conformer of the α-methyl derivative. The energy requirements for conformational change in the seven-membered ring were significantly greater than for the cyclohexane analogue. The calculated energy differences between diastereomeric methyl derivatives 2–4, 6, and 7 were in agreement with epimerization experiments. The distance of closest approach observed between a proton of the axial methyls of 2 and 3 and the distal benzene ring is smaller than expected on the basis of van der Waals' radii.

The conformational preference of methoxyl and acetoxyl groups in 3-oxycyclohexenes, 2-oxymethylenecyclohexanes, and 1-oxytetralins and the generalized anomeric effect

The 13C and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance data of 3-oxycyclohexenes, 2-oxymethylenecyclohexanes, and 1-oxytetralins show (i) that the pseudoaxial preference is larger for the acetoxyl group than for the methoxyl group in 3-oxycyclohexenes, (ii) that the methoxyl and the acetoxyl groups have the same pseudoaxial preference in 1-oxytetralins, and (iii) that in 2-oxymethylenecyclohexanes, the acetoxyl group prefers the equatorial orientation whereas the methoxyl group prefers to be axial. These results are interpreted in terms of the orbital picture (π–σ* stabilization of the axial conformer) of the generalized anomeric effect to which is opposed a conformational effect termed the "unsaturation effect" in 2-acetoxymethylenecyclo-hexane and probably also, but to a much smaller extent, in 1-acetoxytetralin. The results also show that cis and transtert-butyl analogues of 3-oxycyclohexenes do not represent the true limit conformers whereas cis and trans 4-tert-butyl derivatives of 2-oxymethylenecyclohexanes do not differ drastically from the limit conformers.