The planar conformation of 2-methylthiobenzaldehyde in solution

Abstract

The 1H nmr spectral parameters are extracted for a 4 mol% solution of 2-methylthiobenzaldehyde in CCl4 at 305 K. The long-range spin–spin coupling constants involving the aldehydic and methyl protons are consistent only with a preferred conformation in which all heavy atoms are coplanar, as are the chemical shifts of the ring and methyl protons. This conclusion contradicts previous interpretations of the dipole moment, the nmr parameters, and of the infrared data for CCl4 solutions. The present data show that the O-syn and O-anti forms of the compound are present in roughly equal proportions.