13C NMR of Iodoalkynes in Lewis-Basic Solvents
basic end groups, namely compounds 3 and 4, each of
which had a higher R-carbon chemical shift than pre-
dicted from the terminal-alkyne NMR.
Laurence et al. measured the NMR spectra of iodo-
alkynes only in CDCl3. However, we have found that in
DMSO or pyridine, the R-carbon chemical shifts of
iodoalkynes move 10-15 ppm higher in frequency.1 Here,
we describe studies of the iodoalkyne chemical shift both
in nonpolar solvents with dissolved base and in neat basic
solvents. In both cases, the presence of a Lewis base has
a measurable effect on the R-carbon chemical shift.
Exp er im en ta l Section
1-Iod o-1-h exyn e (1).13 Several synthetic routes have been
used to prepare 1. The following procedure is preferred because
it provides 1 in good yields and high purity. Under argon
atmosphere, 1-hexyne (1.64 g, 20 mmol), AgNO3 (0.84 g, 5
mmol), and N-iodosuccinimide (9.89 g, 44 mmol) were added
to 200 mL of acetone. The reaction mixture was stirred at room
temperature for approximately 3 h. Cold water (100 mL) was
added to quench the reaction. Hexanes (100 mL) was added,
and the resulting organic layer was washed with water and
brine (∼250 mL each), and finally with 0.05 M Na2S2O3, to
remove I2, until the organic layer had no color. The organic
layer was dried with MgSO4 and concentrated in vacuo to yield
a brown liquid (2.50 g, 60%). A slight pink color is an indication
of the presence of I2 in the product. 13C NMR (62 MHz, CDCl3)
δ -7.7, 13.5, 20.5, 21.8, 30.5, 94.8.
Diiod oeth yn e (2). A typical synthetic procedure (modified
from Dehn14) is as follows: Acetylene gas was bubbled into a
mechanically stirred solution of KI (25.54 g, 154 mmol) in 50
mL of water. NaOCl solution (10-13% available chlorine) was
added dropwise to the solution at such a rate that the yellow
color of OI- anion would quickly disappear. Addition of NaOCl
solution and bubbling of acetylene gas were stopped when no
color change was observed upon addition of the NaOCl
solution. The reaction was cooled in an ice bath. The precipi-
tate was filtered and washed with cold water. The product was
dissolved in 75 mL of petroleum ether and dried with calcium
chloride. Recrystallization of the product from the decanted
petroleum ether yielded 2 (9.497 g, 44.5% based on KI). 13C
NMR (75 MHz, CDCl3) δ 0.62, mp 78-79 °C (lit. mp 79 °C).
NMR Exp er im en ts. Solvents were used as purchased
without further purification. For dilute experiments, samples
were prepared by dissolving a 1:1 mixture of 1 and the base
of interest (for example, 0.1 mmol of each) in hexanes, and
diluting the sample to 1 mL in a volumetric flask. The
concentrations of 1 and base ranged from 0.010 to 0.50 M.
NMR spectra were obtained at 25 °C, using a Varian Inova
600 operating at 150.8 MHz for 13C. For neat solvent experi-
ments, samples were prepared by dissolving 1 (0.062 g, 0.30
mmol) or 2 (0.083 g, 0.30 mmol) in the solvent of interest and
diluting the sample to 1 mL in a volumetric flask. NMR spectra
of 1 in neat solvents were obtained at 25 °C, using a Varian
Inova 600 operating at 150.8 MHz for 13C. NMR spectra of 2
in neat solvents were obtained at 25 °C, using a Bruker AC-
F IGURE 2. Dilute solution studies of 1 complexed with
several bases in hexanes. Concentration of base and 1 kept
approximately equal.
dine can have a significant effect on the chemical shift
of the R-carbon of an iodoalkyne. To explore whether this
solvent effect comes from bulk or molecular properties,
we measured the chemical shift of 1 in the presence of
dilute base. For these experiments, hexanes was used as
a nonpolar, noninteracting solvent. We chose compound
1 as the substrate for these studies because it is easily
prepared, because the R-carbon chemical shift appears
far from other peaks in the NMR spectrum (-8.1 ppm
at 0.1 M in hexanes), and because 1 lacks other functional
groups that might complicate the interactions with
solvent. In each case, a 1:1 mixture of 1 and the
appropriate base was dissolved in hexanes, and the
R-carbon chemical shift was measured.
The dilute solution experiments (Figure 2) provide
qualitative evidence for the importance of specific mo-
lecular interactions and Lewis basicity to the observed
solvent effect, consistent with computational results. As
shown in Figure 2, even without added base, the chemical
shift changes slightly with increased concentration (-7.9
ppm at 0.4 M in hexanes), perhaps because of self-
aggregation of the iodoalkyne. But adding a Lewis base
to the solution affects the chemical shifts even more.
Pyridine and quinoline, the two strongest bases, cause
the biggest change in R-carbon chemical shift; for ex-
ample, the R-carbon of 1 produces a shift of -5.7 ppm in
a 0.4 M solution of pyridine.
Nonetheless, in each case, the effect of dilute amounts
of base is much smaller than that of the corresponding
bulk solvent. For instance, in pure pyridine, the chemical
shift of 1 is +3.85 ppm. The relatively small changes in
chemical shift in these dilute solutions make it impossible
to calculate a reliable association constant for 1 with any
of the bases examined. These experiments also raise the
question of whether other bulk properties, in particular
solvent polarity, might be significant contributors to the
observed solvent effect.
300, interfaced to a Techmagnetics Tecmag MacSpect
3
controller, operating at 75 MHz. For all experiments an
external lock signal was produced by using a sealed glass
capillary containing either cyclohexane-d12 (for experiments
with 1) or acetone-d6 (for experiments with 2).
Resu lts a n d Discu ssion
Iod oa lk yn es in Nea t Ba sic Solven ts. To examine
the role of bulk solvent properties in the observed NMR
shifts, we carried out studies in neat solvents of varying
basicity and polarity, including halogenated hydrocar-
bons, aromatic solvents, amines, and ethers. The ob-
served R-carbon chemical shift for 1, δ(1), spans a range
Iod oa lk yn es in th e P r esen ce of Dilu te Ba se. Initial
experiments indicated that basic solvents such as pyri-
(13) Nelson, D. J .; Blue, C. D.; Brown, H. C. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1982,
104, 4913-4917.
(14) Dehn, W. H. J . Am. Chem. Soc. 1911, 33, 1598.
J . Org. Chem, Vol. 69, No. 3, 2004 661