Molecular Structure and Internal Rotations of Tetracyclohexylmethane
作者:Ishay Columbus、Silvio E. Biali
DOI:10.1021/jo00105a034
日期:1994.12
The stereochemistry of tetracyclohexylmethane (2), obtained by catalytic hydrogenation of tetraphenylmethane, is analyzed. The Cahn-Ingold-Prelog conformational descriptors of the ideal conformers of tetrasubstituted methanes are reevaluated and an alternative method presented. Methane 2 exists in the crystal in a (g/a/-g) conformation (of approximate Sq symmetry) in which all the rings are in a chair arrangement and are skewed from their perfectly staggered D(2)d conformation. Molecular mechanics (MM) calculations indicate that the crystallographic conformation is the lowest energy form. Analysis of the H-1 and C-13 NMR data indicates that, even at low temperatures, the molecule undergoes a fast rotational process which exchanges the ortho and meta groups. On the basis of the MM calculations it is concluded that the preferred rotational pathway involves libration of the four rings via a transition state of D(2)d symmetry in which all the rings are perfectly staggered.