DFT studies on tautomeric preferences: Proton transfer in 1,5-bis(pyridin-2-yl)- and 1,5-bis(quinolin-2-yl)pentane-2,4-diones

Pseudo-cyclic structures of mono- and di-azaderivatives of malondialdehydes. Synthesis and conformational disentanglement by computational analyses

Mono- and diaza-derivatives of malondialdehydes, namely 3-alkyl(aryl)amino-2-arylacroleins and 1,5-dialkyl(aryl)-3-arylvinamidines are open-chain systems in which extended electron delocalization and pseudoaromaticity can be envisaged. A set of diversely functionalized compounds has been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic data and X-ray diffractometry. Quantum-chemical calculations were performed for all possible neutral tautomers and conformers in the gas phase and compared to those in polar solvents (CHCl3, DMSO, and EtOH) at the M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level. Tautomeric equilibria and conformational preferences can be rationalized in terms of structural factors, which can be roughly estimated as summation or subtractions of intramolecular interactions. As expected, a key role is played by intramolecular hydrogen bonds whose strength varies from the gas phase to polar ethanol. This issue also delves into the concept of resonance-assisted H-bond, where the donor and acceptor atoms are connected by a π-conjugated system. The most stable conformers (structures a and c) possess a high degree of pseudoaromaticity as inferred from HOMA indexes and other delocalization parameters.

Effect of benzoannulation on tautomeric preferences of 4,6-di(pyridin-2-yl)cyclohexane-1,3-dione

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level show that 4,6-di(pyridin-2-yl)cyclohexane-1,3-dione is a labile compound. On the other hand, its dienolimine tautomer (4,6-di(pyridin-2-yl)cyclohaxa-1,3-diene-1,3-diol) seems stable enough to be present in vacuum. Alternatively the equilibriated species are (i) dienolimine and enolimine-enaminone ((6Z)-3-hydroxy-6-(pyridin-2(1H)-ylidene)-4-(pyridine-2-yl)cyclohex-3-enone) or (ii) dienolimine, enolimine-enaminone and dienaminone ((4Z,6Z)-4,6-di(pyridin-2(1H)-ylidene)cyclohexane-1,3-dione). Benzoannulation of the pyridine ring at position 5,6 was found to increase the contribution of the tautomers which contain the enaminone moiety. Energies of the transition states between the stable tautomers were also calculated in order to estimate activation energy of the proton transfer. Values of the geometry based harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA) index and Laplacian of the electron density in the hydrogen bond critical point (based on quantum theory of atom in molecules) shows that the enaminone moiety in the tautomers studied are stabilized by stronger intramolecular hydrogen bond than this present in the enolimine moiety.