Absolute configuration, predominant conformations, and vibrational circular dichroism spectra of enantiomers of n-butyl tert-butyl sulfoxide

Alkylation of the alpha-carbanion of (R)-(-)-tert-butyl methyl sulfoxide (4) with n-propyl bromide afforded (+)-n-butyl tert-butyl sulfoxide (1) to which the absolute configuration (R) was ascribed. This assignment was confirmed by X-ray analysis of the complex 6 obtained from the enantiomerically pure sulfoxide (-)-1 and mercury chloride. Vibrational absorption and circular dichroism spectra of (+)-1 were measured in CDCl3 solution in the 2000-900 cm(-1) region and compared with the ab initio predictions of absorption and VCD spectra obtained with density functional theory using the B3LYP/6-31G basis set for different conformers of (R)-1. This comparison indicated also that (+)-1 is of the (R)-configuration.

Nucleophilic N1-->N3 rearrangement of 5'-O-trityl-O2,3'-cycloanhydrothymidine

5'-O-Trityl-O2,3'-cycloanhydrothymidine (1) heated at 150 degrees C in the presence of O,O-diethyl phosphate or O,O-diethyl phosphorothioate anions undergoes rearrangement into N3-isomer (2); its structure was established by both advanced NMR methods and X-ray crystallographic studies. The most probable mechanism of 1-->2 rearrangement relies upon reversibility of glycosidic bond cleavage process.

X-ray and high resolution selenium-77 solid state NMR spectroscopy as complementary probes to structural studies of organophosphorus diselenides

77Se high resolution solid state NMR spectroscopy was employed to study structural properties of bis(diisopropoxyphosphorothioyl) diselenide 1 and bis(dineopentoxyphosphorothioyl) diselenide 2. The principal elements Tii of 77Se effective dipolar/chemical shift tensor were calculated from spinning sideband intensities employing the WIN-MAS program. The values of anisotropy and asymmetry parameters reflect the distortion of the selenium environment. It was found that the T33 component mostly contributes to changes in the isotropic chemical shifts. 77Se CP/MAS experiments were used to decide the assignment of space group by counting the number of crystallographically unique selenium centers in the unit cell. Crystals of diselenide 1 are triclinic, space group P1 with a = 8.485(3) A, b = 8.508(1) A, c = 8.511(2) A, alpha = 98.835(15) degrees, beta = 111.653(24) degrees, gamma = 93.524(21) degrees, V = 559.5(3) A3, Dc = 1.544(2) g/cm3 and Z = 1. Refinement using 2222 reflections for 157 variables gives R = 0.037. Crystals of diselenide 2 are triclinic, space group P1 with a = 9.1418(8) A, b = 9.1465(8) A, c = 9.9200(9) A, alpha = 74.751(8) degrees, beta = 74.629(7) degrees, gamma = 82.216(7) degrees, V = 769.7(1) A3, Dc = 1.365(2) g/cm3 and Z = 1. Refinement using 3316 reflections for 297 variables gives R = 0.0272.