Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 10, 2026

Line Shape Analysis of Dynamic NMR Spectra for Characterizing Coordination Sphere Rearrangements at a Chiral Rhenium Polyhydride Complex
Published on: July 27, 2022
Conformational studies of cyclopropane carboxaldehydehyde from temperature-dependent FT-IR spectra of xenon solutions
1Department of Chemistry, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 64110-2499, USA. durigj@umkc.edu
Abstract:
Variable temperature ( -60 to 100 degrees C) studies of the infrared spectra (3,500-400 cm(-1) of cyclopropane carboxaldehyde. c-C3H5CHO, dissolved in liquid xenon have been recorded. Utilizing several doublets due to the syn and anti conformers. the enthalpy difference has been determined to be 95 +/- 8 cm(-1) (1.14 +/- 0.10 kJ/mol) with the (anti conformer (oxygen atom trans to the three-member ring) the more stable rotamer. From this deltaH value, along with assigned torsional transitions for both the anti and svi, conformers, the potential function governing the conformational interchange has been estimated. Using the new infrared data from the xenon solution, along with some additional Raman data, and ab initio predictions from MP2/6-31G(d) calculations some reassignments of the fundamentals have been made. Ab initio calculations have been carried out with several different basis sets upto 6-311 +/- +G(d,p) with full electron correlation by the perturbation method to second order from which structural parameters and conformational stabilities have been determined. From all of the ab initio calculations, the syn conformer is predicted to be the more stable which is at variance with the experimental results. The spectroscopic and theoretical results are compared to the corresponding quantities for some similar molecules.
Related Concept Videos
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Variable-Temperature NMR
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution
Chair Conformation of Cyclohexane
The hydrogen atoms linked to carbons are arranged in two different axial and equatorial orientations to achieve this staggered...
Conformations of Cyclohexane
The chair form is the most stable and derives its name from its resemblance to the “easy chair.” In the chair conformation, two carbon atoms are arranged out-of-plane — one above and one below, minimizing the torsional strain. In the chair form, the bond angle is very close to the ideal tetrahedral value,...
IR and UV–Vis Spectroscopy of Aldehydes and Ketones
Conformations of Cycloalkanes

