Application of nuclear magnetic relaxation to elucidate proton location and dynamics in N···H···O hydrogen bonds

The proton location and dynamics in a hydrogen bond in solution are fundamentally important for understanding the phenomenon of proton transfer (PT). In the present study, the proton location and its dynamics were explored for the NH form of the two PT tautomers of the Schiff base by analyzing the fluctuation of the (15)N-(1)H magnetic dipolar coupling by the PT as well as the NH reorientational motion. For this purpose, the (15)N and (13)C spin-lattice relaxation times were measured in dichloromethane or acetonitrile solutions of three Schiff bases with different substituents on the benzene moieties, N-(4,6-dimethoxysalicylidene)methylamine (compound 1), N-(1-methylnitrilomethylidyne)-2-naphthalenomethylamine (compound 2), and N-(3,5-dibromosalicylidene)-methylamine (compound 3). For the NH form of compound 2 in dichloromethane, the proton location shifted to the center between the nitrogen and oxygen atoms, as compared with the minimum of the PT potential surface derived from molecular orbital calculations. For the NH form of compound 3 in dichloromethane, the proton location shift was not observed, and the PT rate was significantly lower than the reorientation rate of the NH bond. The results are discussed in terms of the electronic effect of the substituents and the static and dynamic solvent effect.