Dynamic 1H NMR Spectroscopic Study of the Ring Inversion in N-Sulfonyl Morpholines-Studies on N-S Interactions

The effect of the exocyclic conjugation, via d-p orbital interaction and/or negative hyperconjugation (anomeric effect) of the N-S bond, on the inversion of the morpholine ring in some N-arylsulfonyl morpholines is studied by variable-temperature H-1 NMR spectroscopy in different solvents. The observed free energy barriers are 9.2-10.3 kcal mol(-1); the lower values were obtained with increasing conjugation (substituents of higher electron withdrawing power) along the series. The barrier to ring inversion of le was solvent independent. X-ray data of compounds 1b,d reveal the chair conformation of the six-membered ring the flattened pyramidal orientation of the ring nitrogen atom, and the sulfonyl group in equatorial position with the plane containing the C-aryl-S-N bond perpendicular to the plane of the benzene ring. In addition, the sulfonamide group prefers a conformation with the S-C bond antiperiplanar with respect to the nitrogen atom lone pair and the -CH2-N-CH2- moieties in staggered conformation with the S-O bonds of the SO2 group.