Conformational studies by liquid crystal NMR and ab initio calculations: methyl nicotinate and methyl isonicotinate

Abstract

Conformational properties of methyl nicotinate and methyl isonicotinate have been studied by liquid crystal 1H-NMR spectroscopy combined with ab initio calculations. The solvent used is a mixture of 80 mol.% of EBBA and 20 mol.% of MBBA.Ab initio calculations have been performed with 4-21G and MINI-4 basis sets to estimate molecular structures and the potential functions for internal rotation. Some structural parameters and the energy difference between rotational isomers have been refined by using observed dipolar coupling constants. The correlation between internal rotation and reorientational molecular motion has been taken into account according to the theory of Emsley, Luckhurst and Stockley. The parameters of the mean external potential are found to take similar values for methyl nicotinate and methyl isonicotinate. The energy difference of the two stable conformers of methyl nicotinate is in agreement with the analysis neglecting the correlation between the two motions.