N- vs O-protonation and the transannular substituent interaction in 8-(Dimethylamino)-1-acetonaphthone
Dynamic NMR measurements of 8-(dimethylamino)-1-acetonaphthone 1 in neutral solutions reveal a solvent dependency of the barrier to NMe group interchange similar to that reported for N,N-dimethylacetamide. Titrating 1 with TFA in solvents of varying donicities gives rise to equilibrium mixtures of N-protonated aminoketone 2 and the O-protonated transannular addition product 3, the interconversion rate of which is slow on the NMR time scale at ambient temperature. The preference for O- or N-protonation is medium-dependent, the amount of N-protonated 2 increasing with a decrease in the nucleophilicity of the solvent. The set of equilibria which govern the interconversion of 2 and 3 in the titration mixtures are identified and their equilibrium constants evaluated from the NMR data. X-ray analysis of the crystalline trifluoroacetate salt of O-protonated 3 indicates that the transannular N.CO bond of 3 is formed to an extent of only 80%. The equilibrium distribution of 2 and 3, paired with the tetrafluoroborate anion, depends on both the nucleophilicity and the polarity of the solvent. In PhNO(2) the enthalpy change 3 --> 2 amounts to 2.6 kcal/mol.
Schuster
II
Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, Abington College, Abington, Pennsylvania 19001 and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA.
Freyer
AJ
Rheingold
AL