13C CP MAS NMR and DFT study of vascular-selective drugs felodipine and amlodipine

Amlodipine besylate (AM) and felodipine (FL) have been studied in solid by 13C CP MAS NMR and DFT. The spectra have been successfully reproduced from the theoretical calculations of the nuclear magnetic shielding tensors, using the GIAO method, after the SCF partial geometry optimisation. A very good correlation between the 13C chemical shifts and quadrupole coupling constants for chlorobenzene, AM and FL was obtained. 13C NMR as well as 35Cl NQR do not differentiate between S and R enantiomers of AM and FL due to the symmetry of the 4-aryl ring comprising one (AM) or two (FL) chlorine atoms oriented in a perpendicular fashion over the 1,4-DHP ring.