Deprotonation of hydrogen bonded Schiff bases by three strong nitrogen bases

Three Schiff bases obtained from substituted salicylaldehydes and 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde and aliphatic amines were investigated in terms of possible withdrawal of tautomeric proton from intramolecular hydrogen bridge. Three strong nitrogen bases: 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphtalene (DMAN), 1,1,3,3-tetramethylguanidine (TMG) and 1,8-bis(tetramethylguanidino)naphthalene (TMGN) were used as deprotonating agents in acetonitrile solution at room temperature. In the specified conditions it was found that only in the case of 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde and isopropyl amine derivative this process could be performed using TMG and TMGN as a base. The other derivatives, where bridged proton is shifted to oxygen or nitrogen atom, do not undergo such reaction. The deprotonation process was monitored by nitrogen and proton NMR measurements.