Síntesis y estudio estructural de compuestos azometínicos derivados de malondialdehídos

Abstract

This work examines in detail the tautomerism of 2-aryl-substituted malondialdehydes, mainly focused on enolal structures, by means of gas-phase and solvent-based DFT calculations performed at the M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level. Open and pseudo-cyclic structures can be envisaged, the latter being decorated by an intramolecular hydrogen bond acting in symbiosis with p-electron delocalization. We have checked the relationship between the computed hydrogen bond energies and a variety of descriptors for electron delocalization. Mono- and diaza-derivatives of malondialdehydes, are open-chain systems in which extended electron delocalization and pseudoaromaticity can also be envisaged. A set of diversely functionalized compounds has been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic data and X-ray diffractometry. Quantum-chemical calculations were performed for all possible neutral tautomers and conformers in the gas phase and compared to those in polar solvents at the M06-2X/6-311++G(d,p) level. Tautomeric equilibria and conformational preferences can be rationalized in terms of structural factors, which can be roughly estimated as summation or subtractions of intramolecular interactions. As expected, a key role is played by intramolecular hydrogen bonds whose strength varies from the gas phase to polar ethanol. Monoaza- and diaza-derivatives of malondialdehydes are prototypical examples of open-chain structures prone to p-electron delocalization, for which intramolecular hydrogen bonding enhances (or diminishes) their pseudoaromaticity depending on the substitution pattern. This interplay is illustrated herein by DFT-based calculations of aromaticity indices in the gas phase and polar solvents. Elucidation of transition structures involved in tautomeric conversions helps to solve how the intramolecular hydrogen transfer occurs.