Discriminating the structure ofexo-2-aminonorbornane using nuclear quadrupole coupling interactions

The Conformational Map of Volatile Anesthetics: Enflurane Revisited

Previous ambiguities in the conformational and structural landscape of the volatile anesthetic enflurane have been solved combining microwave spectroscopy in a jet expansion and ab initio calculations. The broadband (2-18 GHz) rotational spectra identified three different rotamers, sharing a common trans ether skeleton but differing in the ±gauche/trans position of the terminal chlorine atom. For each chlorine conformation two different gauche orientations were predicted for the opposite difluoromethyl group, but only one is experimentally observable due to collisional relaxation in the jet. The experimental dataset comprised nine different isotopologues ((35) Cl, (37) Cl, (13) C) and a large number (>6500) of rotational transitions. The inertial data provided structural information using the substitution and effective procedures. The structural preferences were rationalized with additional ab initio, natural-bond-orbital and non-covalent-interaction analysis, which suggest that plausible anomeric effects at the difluoromethyl group could be overridden by other intramolecular effects. The difluoromethyl orientation thus reflects a minimization of inter-fluorine repulsions while maximizing F⋅⋅⋅H attractive interactions. A comparison with previous electron diffraction and spectroscopic data in the gas and condensed phases finally resulted in a comprehensive description of this ether, completing a rotational description of the most common multi-halogenated anesthetics.

Solving the Tautomeric Equilibrium of Purine through Analysis of the Complex Hyperfine Structure of the Four (14)N Nuclei

The rotational spectra of two tautomers of purine have been measured by pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy coupled to a UV ultrafast vaporization system. The population ratio of the two main tautomers [N(7)H]/[N(9)H] is about 1/40 in the gas phase. It contrasts with the solid state where only the N(7)H species is present, or in solution where a mixture of both tautomers is observed. For both species, a full quadrupolar hyperfine analysis has been performed. This has led to the determination of the full sets of diagonal quadrupole coupling constants of the four (14)N atoms, which have provided crucial information for the unambiguous identification of both species. This work shows the great potential of microwave spectroscopy to study isolated biomolecules in the gas phase. All the work was supported by theoretical calculations.

Structural distortion of the epoxy groups in norbornanes: a rotational study of exo-2,3-epoxynorbornane

Exo-2,3-epoxynorbornane is studied in the gas phase by pulsed jet Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy in the 4-18 GHz region. Six isotopologues were observed and characterized in their natural abundance. The experimental substitution and effective structures were obtained. Comparison with the structure of norbornane shows significant differences in several bond lengths and valence angles upon introduction of the epoxy group. All the work is supported by quantum chemical calculations.

Rotational spectra of bicyclic decanes: the trans conformation of (-)-lupinine

The conformational and structural properties of the bicyclic quinolizidine alkaloid (-)-lupinine have been investigated in a supersonic jet expansion using microwave spectroscopy. The rotational spectrum is consistent with a single dominant trans conformation within a double-chair skeleton, which is stabilized by more than 10.4 kJ mol(-1) with respect to other conformations. In the isolated conditions of the jet, the hydroxy methyl side chain of the molecule locks in to form an intramolecular O-H···N hydrogen bond to the electron lone pair at the nitrogen atom. Accurate rotational constants, centrifugal distortion corrections, and (14)N nuclear quadrupole coupling parameters are reported and compared to ab initio (MP2) and DFT (M06-2X) calculations. The stability of lupinine is further compared computationally with epilupinine and decaline in order to gauge the influence of intramolecular hydrogen bonding, absent in these molecules.

Rotational spectroscopy of antipyretics: conformation, structure, and internal dynamics of phenazone

The conformational and structural preferences of phenazone (antipyrine), the prototype of non-opioid pyrazolone antipyretics, have been probed in a supersonic jet expansion using rotational spectroscopy. The conformational landscape of the two-ring assembly was first explored computationally, but only a single conformer was predicted, with the N-phenyl and N-methyl groups on opposite sides of the pyrazolone ring. Consistently, the microwave spectrum evidenced a rotational signature arising from a single molecular structure. The spectrum exhibited very complicated fine and hyperfine patterns (not resolvable with any other spectroscopic technique) originated by the simultaneous coupling of the methyl group internal rotation and the spins of the two (14)N nuclei with the overall rotation. The internal rotation tunnelling was ascribed to the C-CH3 group and the barrier height established experimentally (7.13(10) kJ mol(-1)). The internal rotation of the N-CH3 group has a lower limit of 9.4 kJ mol(-1). The structure of the molecule was determined from the rotational parameters, with the phenyl group elevated ca. 25° with respect to the average plane of the pyrazolic moiety and a phenyl torsion of ca. 52°. The origin of the conformational preferences is discussed in terms of the competition between intramolecular C-H···N and C-H···O weak hydrogen bonds.

The distorted tropane of scopoline

The structural isomerization of scopine into scopoline (oscine) has been observed in a supersonic jet expansion using microwave spectroscopy. The rotational spectrum evidences a single structure in the gas phase, providing a first description of the (three-ring) structurally distorted tropane in scopoline. The absence of rotational signatures of any scopine conformation suggests a practically quantitative isomerization at the vaporization temperatures of the experiment (ca. 90 °C). The determined rotational parameters of scopoline reveal the structural consequences of the intramolecular cyclation of scopine, which breaks the original epoxy group and creates a new ether bridge and a 7β-hydroxytropane configuration. The hydroxy group further stabilizes the molecule by an O-H⋅⋅⋅N intramolecular hydrogen bond, which, in turn, forces the N-methyl group to the less stable axial form. Supporting ab initio (MP2) and DFT (B3LYP, M06-2X) calculations are included.