Stereochemistry from coupling constants

As in the Erythrina group, the stereochemistry at C-3 may be assigned from coupling constant data however, chemical shift data can also be used as an indicator of stereochemistry. For example, in the schelhammericine (81a) series (35-methoxyl), the methoxyl resonance occurs at <5 2.74 ppm... 

Data from NOE experiments nicely supplement information from coupling constants in the determination of three-dimensional stereochemistry loo. Reduction of this bicyclic ketone with a bulky hydride reducing agent gives one diastereoisomer of the alcohol, but which Irradiation of the proton next to the OH group leads to an NOE to tlie green proton. 

NMR provides one of the most powerful techniques for identification of unknown compounds based on high-resolution proton spectra (chemical shift type integration relative numbers) or 13C information (number of nonequivalent carbon atoms types of carbon number of protons at each C atom). Structural information may be obtained in subsequent steps from chemical shifts in single-pulse NMR experiments, homo- and heteronuclear spin-spin connectivities and corresponding coupling constants, from relaxation data such as NOEs, 7) s 7is, or from even more sophisticated 2D techniques. In most cases the presence of a NOE enhancement is all that is required to establish the stereochemistry at a particular centre [167]. For a proper description of the microstructure of a macromolecule NMR spectroscopy has now overtaken IR spectroscopy as the analytical tool in general use. 

Corsaro and co-workers studied the reaction of pyridazine, pyrimidine, and pyrazine with benzonitrile oxide and utilized H NMR spectral analysis to determine the exact structure of all the cyclized products obtained from these reactions <1996T6421>, the results of which are outlined in Table 1. The structure of the bis-adduct product 21 of reaction of pyridazine with benzonitrile oxide was determined from the chemical shifts of the 4- and 5-isoxazolinic protons at 3.76 and 4.78 ppm and coupled with the azomethine H at 6.85 ppm and with the 5-oxadiazolinic H at 5.07 ppm, respectively. They determined that the bis-adduct possessed /(-stereochemistry as a result of the large vicinal coupling constant (9.1 Hz). Similarly, the relative stereochemistry of the bis-adducts of the pyrimidine products 22-25 and pyrazine products 26, 27 was determined from the vicinal coupling constants. 

A minor isonitrile named acanthellin-2 with a specific rotation of — 24.1° was reported with no further details except some IR and MS data [3]. Isothiocyanate 15 and formamide 16 were also isolated from Axinella cannabina in a later study, in which isonitrile 14 and isomers 17-19 were also secured [35]. That 17-19 are C4(14)-ene isomers of 14 was concluded after extensive double resonance H NMR experiments. Coupling constants and nOe effects between the affected protons and various substituents of 17 established the relative stereochemistry of this series. 

The relative stereochemistry of the pyrrolidine ring of broussonetine C (1) was determined from its coupling constants (vicinal coupling, 2,3 = = Ja = 6.4 Hz) and nuclear Overhauser enhancement... 

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