Theoretical study of keto-enol tautomerism in 7-epi-clusianone by quantum chemical calculations of NMR chemical shifts

Plants from the Garcinia genus have been used worldwide due to their therapeutic properties. Among the various metabolites isolated from this genus, 7-epi-clusianone, a tetraprenylated benzophenone, stands out for its wide range of identified biological activities. This benzophenone can exist in five tautomeric forms, although the benzene-d(6) and chloroform-d(3) solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra revealed only two tautomeric forms (B and C) in equilibrium, with concentration ratio depending on the solvent in which the spectrum was obtained. Calculated energy values suggested that tautomeric forms B and E would be prevalent in benzene-d(6) solution, in contrast to the experimental data. Considering this conflicting result, we employed the statistical DP4 + method based on C-13 and H-1 NMR chemical shift calculations, in the gas phase and in benzene-d(6) solution, to confirm that the B and C tautomeric forms of 7-epi-clusianone are the most prevalent in the experimental conditions.