An investigation into the origins of polar substituent effects upon 19F chemical shifts, using 4-substituted β,β-difluorostyrenes

Abstract

19F, 13C, and 1H chemical shifts have been determined for β,β-difluorostyrene and eight 4-substituted derivatives. The β-fluorine chemical shift difference, ΔδF, is used to evaluate the constant in the Buckingham equation. A = 3.0 × 10−11 esu for C—F bonds which is in excellent agreement with the value derived by Adcock and Khor. This allows accurate estimates of direct field effect contributions to 19F chemical shifts in aryl fluorides. Substituent parameter correlations demonstrate that the primary polar effect on 19F chemical shifts is field-induced π polarization. Abinitio molecular orbital calculations confirm that the substituent-induced 19F chemical shifts reflect changes in fluorine π electron density.