Symmetry of Hydrogen Bonds in Two Enols in Solution

The enols of 4-cyano-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedione and of nitromalonamide were prepared as statistical mixtures of ¹⁸O _n ( n = 0, 1, 2) isotopologues. The symmetries of their hydrogen bonds were probed by isotopic perturbation of their ¹³CO NMR signals. The former mixture shows a total of four signals, due to both intrinsic and perturbation isotope shifts. Therefore, that enol is a mixture of tautomers with an asymmetric hydrogen bond. In contrast, the mixture of isotopologues of nitromalonamide enol shows only two signals, due to an intrinsic isotope shift. Therefore, this is the first case, to be compared with the FHF^- anion, of a neutral species with a single symmetric structure in solution and with a centered hydrogen.