Dynamic Helical Chirality of a Bisoxazoline
Exp er im en ta l Section
Gen er a l. Melting points were determined in open capillar-
ies and are uncorrected. 1H NMR spectra were recorded at 400
MHz and 13C NMR spectra at 100 MHz. Electrospray mass
spectra were recorded at The Ohio State University Chemical
Instrument Center. Circular dichroism (CD) measurements
were carried out using optical grade solvents and quartz glass
cuvettes with a 10 mm path length. All reactions were per-
formed under an argon or nitrogen atmosphere. Dimethylfor-
mamide (DMF) was dried by distillation from activated 4 Å
sieves; THF was distilled from sodium/benzophenone ketyl;
pyridine, triethylamine, and dichloromethane were distilled
from calcium hydride; and CHCl3 was distilled from CaCl2.
Chromatographic separations were performed on silica gel 60
(230-400 mesh, 60 Å) using the indicated solvents.
N-(2-H yd r oxy-(1S)-1-m et h ylet h yl)-2-n it r ob en za m id e
(4a ). 2-Nitrobenzoyl chloride was prepared by adding oxalyl
chloride (1.27 g, 0.87 mL, 10.0 mmol) to a solution of 2-ni-
trobenzoic acid (0.84 g, 5.00 mmol) and DMF (2 drops) in CH2-
Cl2 (10 mL). After stirring for 2 h, the solution became
homogeneous and was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was
dissolved in CH2Cl2 (2 × 5 mL) and added over the course of
1 h to a solution of S-(+)-2-amino-1-propanol (0.45 g, 467 µL,
6.00 mmol), Et3N (1.5 g, 2.1 mL, 15.0 mmol), and 4 Å molecular
sieves (ca 0.5 g) in CH2Cl2 (20 mL) at 0 °C. The reaction was
allowed to warm to ambient temperature over 2 h. The
molecular sieves were removed by filtration, and the solution
was concentrated. The resultant residue was purified by
column chromatography on silica using 50% CH2Cl2/EtOAc.
Product was isolated as a white crystalline solid (1.06 g, 4.73
mmol, 94%): mp 90-91 °C (CH2Cl2); 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 1.32
(d, J ) 6.9 Hz, 3H), 2.24 (t, J ) 5.6 Hz, 1H), 3.68 (m, 1H),
3.87 (m, 1H), 4.29 (m, 1H), 6.00 (s, 1H), 7.56 (td, J ) 1.5, 5.8
Hz, 1H), 7.60 (dd, J ) 1.4, 8.1 Hz, 1H), 7.69 (td, J ) 1.2, 7.45
Hz, 1H), 8.09 (dd, J ) 1.1, 8.2 Hz1H); 13C NMR (CDCl3) δ 16.6,
48.2, 65.9, 124.5, 128.8, 130.4, 133.0, 133.8, 146.2, 166.7;
HRMS (ES) m/z [Na]+ 247.0689 (calcd for C10H12N2O4Na+
247.0689).
N-(2-Ch lor o-(1S)-1-m eth yleth yl)-2-n itr oben zam ide (4b).
To a solution of 4a (0.99 g, 4.39 mmol) in CHCl3 (24 mL) was
added SOCl2 (1.05 g, 641 µL, 8.79 mmol). The reaction was
heated at reflux for 30 min. The reaction was cooled to room
temperature and concentrated under vacuum. The resultant
residue was purified by column chromatography on silica using
2% EtOAc/CH2Cl2, affording the product as a white solid (1.03
g, 4.24 mmol, 97%): mp 113-114 °C (CH2Cl2); 1H NMR
(CDCl3) δ 1.39 (d, J ) 6.7 Hz, 3H), 3.70 (dd, J ) 3.4, 11.2 Hz,
1H), 3.88 (dd, J ) 4.2, 11.2 Hz, 1H), 4.58 (m, 1H), 6.00 (d, J )
6.3 Hz, 1H) 7.53 (dd, J ) 1.4, 7.5 Hz, 1H) 7.60 (td, J ) 1.5, 7.8
Hz, 1H), 7.69 (td, J ) 1.2, 7.5 Hz, 1H), 8.09 (dd, 1.0, 8.2 Hz,
1H); 13C NMR (CDCl3) δ 17.5, 46.1, 48.9, 124.6, 128.7, 130.6,
132.7, 133.8, 146.3, 166.0; HRMS (ES) m/z [Na]+ 265.0367
(calcd for C10H11ClN2O3Na+ 265.0350).
F IGURE 4. Interconversion between M and P helical confor-
mations: the relative orientation of electric transition moments
(positive chirality) indicates P helical conformational bias.
absolute sense of helical chirality relating the 2-acylami-
nophenyl oxazoline chromophores in solution can be
assigned to be P, as shown in Figure 4 using the exciton
chirality method pneumonic. The insensitivity of the
couplet to temperature indicates that a highly biased
helical secondary structure is present in 2a .
Solid -Sta te Con for m a tion . A clear, tetragonal crys-
tal in space group P41 was obtained for 2a by crystal-
lization from CH2Cl2/EtOAc.23 X-ray diffraction showed
that the asymmetric unit was composed of two virtually
identical molecules exhibiting P helical chirality, in
agreement with the CD studies (Figure 5). This helical
conformation is induced by four hydrogen-bonding inter-
actions between the pyridyl amide NH’s and both the
pyridine-N, with an average N-N distance of 2.685 Å,
and the oxazoline-N’s with an average N-N distance of
2.704 Å. These hydrogen-bonding interactions force the
oxazoline rings to be placed in a face-to-face stacked
arrangement that projects the methyl substituents above
and below the plane of the helix, resulting in a P helical
chirality. In the crystal lattice, 2a further assembles into
a left-handed helix aligned along the crystallographic c
axis.24 The helical superstructure is primarily stabilized
by edge-to-face stacking interactions between the 2-acyl-
aminophenyl rings of adjacent asymmetric units, with
an average Cedge-Cface distance of 3.74 Å. Presumably for
electrostatic reasons, the two molecules of the asym-
metric unit are packed in an arrangement orienting the
C-Cl bond of one molecule antiparallel to a pyridyl amide
CdO bond of the other molecule having (Cl)C‚‚‚O(dC)
and (C)Cl‚‚‚C(dO) distances of 3.463 and 3.622 Å,
respectively.
Con clu sion
(4S )-4-Me t h yl-2-(2-n it r op h e n yl)-4,5-d ih yd r o-1,3-ox-
a zole (5a ). To a suspension of NaH (0.34 g, 8.50 mmol, 60%
dispersion in oil) in THF (11 mL) was slowly added a solution
of 4b (1.03 g, 4.25 mmol) in THF (10 mL). The reaction was
stirred at room temperature for 1 h and then filtered to remove
salts and concentrated. The resultant residue was purified by
column chromatography on silica using 2% EtOAc/CH2Cl2,
affording the product as a colorless oil (0.80 g, 3.87 mmol,
91%): 1H NMR (CDCl3) δ 1.37 (d, J ) 6.6 Hz, 3H), 3.97 (t, J
) 7.8 Hz, 1H), 4.39 (m, 1H), 4.51 (dd, J ) 8.0, 9.2 Hz, 1H),
7.59 (td, J ) 1.8, 7.7 Hz, 1H), 7.63 (td, J ) 1.6, 7.5 Hz, 1H),
7.81 (dd, J ) 1.8, 7.6 Hz, 1H), 7.84 (dd, J ) 1.7, 7.7 Hz, 1H);
13C NMR (CDCl3) δ 20.9, 62.3, 75.0, 123.4, 123.8, 130.9, 131.3,
132.4, 149.1, 160.9; HRMS (ES) m/z [Na]+ 229.0571 (calcd for
We conclude that the increased structural rigidity
imparted to bisoxazoline 2 by the stronger intramolecular
dN‚‚‚H-N H-bonding interactions, relative to 1, causes
a highly biased helical equilibrium to develop at low
molecular weights. Although the low barrier to helical
interconversion produces a highly dynamic conforma-
tional equilibrium at ambient temperature, a strong bias
for the P helical sense is present in solution and in the
solid state. We are currently investigating the confor-
mational and catalytic properties of associated metal
complexes of 2.
C
10H10N2O3Na+ 229.0584).
(23) Crystallographic information: T ) 150(2) K; P41, a ) 8.951(1)
Å, c ) 61.611(1) Å.; V ) 4935.9(8) Å3; Z ) 8; 8656 unique data; R1(F)
) 0.029, wR2(F2) ) 0.053; GOF ) 1.044.
2-[(4S)-4-Meth yl-4,5-dih ydr o-1,3-oxazol-2-yl]an ilin e (5b).
To a solution of 5a (0.77 g, 3.72 mmol) in EtOAc (18.6 mL)
was added Pd/C (0.08 g). The reaction was placed under an
(24) For related, solid-state helical superstructures, see ref 14a,f.
J . Org. Chem, Vol. 68, No. 1, 2003 25