Synthesis, NMR data and theoretical study of semi-synthetic derivatives from trans-dehydrocrotonin

In this work, the 19-nor-diterpenoid clerodane-type dehydrocrotonin (t-DCTN) was a primary source for a two-step synthetic procedure. The catalytic hydrogenation of t-DCTN afforded the semi-synthetic trans-crotonin (t-CTN) in a highly stereospecific reaction confirmed by DFT calculations. The unsaturated carbonyl group of t-DCTN was reduced by NaBH4/EtOH providing an epimeric alpha-OH and beta-OH mixture named t-CTN-OL. Both epimeric compound structures t-CTN-alpha-OL and t-CTN-beta-OL were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR spectral data. Comparison of NMR data from natural source of t-CTN was done to confirm the stereochemical authenticity of semi-synthetic t-CTN. Calculated NMR data for all described derivatives (semi-synthetic t-CTN and its t-CTN-OL epimeric mixture) were performed using B3LYP/6-311G++(d,p) level of theory which validated our previously developed NMR theoretical protocol for structural analyses of organic molecules. Topological data using Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) of t-CTN quantified and qualified intramolecular interactions of its most stable conformer. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.