Restricted rotation of the amino group and ring inversion in highly substituted anilines. A dynamic NMR and computational study

The reaction of cyclic ylidene malononitriles with acetylene (di)carboxylic acid esters led to the production of nine bicyclic systems incorporating highly substituted (5/6) anilines. The free energy of activation (ΔG#) for the restricted rotation about the aniline–NH2 bond was experimentally measured in each case and a correlation was evident between the increase in steric strain in the ground state, the electron withdrawing capabilities of the ring substituents, and a reduction in the rotational barrier. For four of the compounds, the slow ring interconversion (chair⇆chair) for the annelated saturated seven-membered ring that formed part of the bicyclic system was also evident. In these four compounds, both dynamic processes were also studied theoretically using ab initio methods whilst the ring interconversion was additionally studied using molecular dynamic simulations. The interconversion between the two stable chair forms was deemed to occur via a conformation series consisting of chair⇆boat⇆twist-boat⇆boat⇆chair.