The annular tautomerism of the curcuminoid NH-pyrazoles

The structures of four NH-pyrazoles, (E)-3,5-bis[beta-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-ethenyl]-1H-pyrazole (3), (E)-3(5)-[beta-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-ethenyl]-5(3)-methyl-1H-pyrazole (4), (E)-3(5)-[beta-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-ethenyl]-4,5(3)-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole (5) and (E)-3(5)-[beta-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-ethenyl]-4-methyl-5(3)-phenyl-1H-pyrazole (8), have been determined by X-ray crystallography. Compounds that have a phenol residue crystallize forming sheets that are stabilized by a complex pattern of hydrogen bonds between a unique tautomer (4), or by a 2 : 1 mixture of both tautomers (5) (these tautomers being identical in the case of 3). Pyrazole 8, which lacks OH groups, crystallizes in cyclic dimers that are stabilized by N-H center dot center dot center dot N hydrogen bonds. The tautomerism in solution and in the solid state was determined by C-13 and N-15 CPMAS NMR spectroscopy. For compounds 4, 5 and 8, the solid state results agree with those observed by crystallography; the most abundant tautomer in solution coincides with the tautomer present in the solid state (4 and 8) or with the most abundant tautomer in the crystal (5).