Crystallographic and computational study of t-butyl N-[3-hydroxy-1-phenyl-4-(pyridin- 2-ylsulfanyl)butan-2-yl]carbamate and its pyrimidin-2-yl analogue

Abstract

Abstract The crystal structure analysis of the biologically-relevant title compound (1) shows the carbonyl-O2 and amide-H atoms to be anti, and perpendicular relationships between the carbamate residue and the pyridyl ring [dihedral angle=84.60(10)°] and between the carbamate and aryl ring [74.84(11)°]; the rings are approximately co-planar [12.07(17)°]. An intramolecular hydroxyl-O–H···N(pyridyl) hydrogen bond that closes a S(7) loop is noted. Of interest is the observation that this hydrogen bond is not found in the structure of the pyrimidinyl analogue (2) which was characterised as a monohydrate, i.e. 2·H2O, in an earlier study. Density-functional theory calculations show the observed conformation in 1 is 2.0 kcal/mol more stable than the conformation where the intramolecular hydrogen bond is absent. This energy difference reduces to ca 0.5 kcal/mol in the case of 2. The differences in molecular conformations found for 1 and 2 are therefore ascribed to the dictates of overall molecular packing, in particular due to the influence of lattice water in 2·H2O.