Internal dynamics in azetidine: A microwave and ab initio study

Abstract

The internal dynamics of interconversion between equivalent conformations due to the coupling between ring puckering and NH inversion in azetidine has been investigated by rotational spectroscopy and ab initio computations. Analysis of the rotational spectra in the 8–220 GHz region has been completed for the ground state and first four excited states of the ring-puckering vibration. Rotational transitions exhibit a characteristic doubling originated by tunneling between equivalent conformations through a C2v barrier, which is related to symmetric (A1) and antisymmetric (B1) inversion states. Additionally, nuclear quadrupole hyperfine structure arising from the N nucleus could be resolved for low-J transitions. Accurate rotational and centrifugal distortion parameters together with the energy difference between inversion states derived from μc-type inversion transitions have been derived for each ring-puckering state using a two-state Hamiltonian. An effective monodimensional reduced potential function for the ring-puckering vibration V(X)=10.82(X4+14.29X−8.93X2−0.28X3) has been found consistent with the observed experimental variation of the rotational and centrifugal distortion constants with ring-puckering. This asymmetric single minimum potential function supports the existence of only one stable equatorial form. The barrier to interconversion between equivalent equatorial conformers, related to the C2v conformation of azetidine in which the ring atoms and the NH group are coplanar, has been estimated to range between 1900 and 2600 cm−1. The strong dependence of the dipole moment and quadrupole coupling constants with ring-puckering vibrational state evidence structural changes that occur along the ring-puckering coordinate.