Conformational analysis of chiral hindered amides

Abstract

The static and dynamic structures of the amide derivatives of racemic and (R)-(+)-2-methoxy-2-phenyl-3,3,3-trifluoropropanoic acid (MPTA) with diisopropyl amine (1), meso-2,6-dimethylpiperidine (2), (R)-(−)- and (S)-(+)-2-methylpiperidine (3 and 4, respectively) were investigated by proton nmr spectroscopy. The piperidine rings adopt a single dominant conformation in which the substituent methyl groups occupy axial positions. One of the isopropyl groups of 1 is oriented in the same way as the corresponding side of the piperidine ring of 2–4 but the other (syn to carbonyl oxygen) is turned so that the methyl groups are toward the carbonyl oxygen and the oxygen lies in the plane bisecting the C—C—C angle. Rotation about the amide C(O)—N bond of 1 is accompanied by concurrent rotation about each of the N—iPr single bonds. The free energies of activation of the hindered rotation about the C(O)—N bond in 1–4, 81 kJ/mol, 77 kJ/mol, 77 kJ/mol, and 79 kJ/mol, respectively, are higher than found in most other hindered amides, suggesting that buttressing due to the steric crowding around the amide functionality is felt throughout the rotational pathway.