10.1002/poc.435
The research focuses on the tautomeric preferences of 2-phenylhydrazones of 1,3-diphenyl-1,2,3-trione in chloroform solution, as detected by 15N NMR chemical shifts. The study aims to understand whether the substituent in the phenylhydrazone moiety influences the tautomeric preference and the transmission of the substituent effect within the molecules. Experiments involved the synthesis of compounds through the coupling of benzenediazonium ion to 1,3-diphenyl-1,3-propanedione, followed by purification via recrystallization from ethanol. The synthesized compounds were then analyzed using 1H, 13C, and 15N NMR spectroscopy, with chemical shifts referenced to tetramethylsilane (TMS) and nitromethane. Additionally, ab initio calculations at the HF/B3LYP level of theory with GIAO-HF/DFT method were conducted to calculate the chemical shifts of carbon atoms, and X-ray crystallography was used to detect the tautomer in the crystal state. The study found that the ketohydrazone tautomer is significantly favored over its proton-transfer products, and this tautomer was also detected in the crystalline state, indicating that the additional carbonyl group or substituent does not affect the tautomeric and configurational preferences.