Concerning the conformational distribution in isopropylcyclopropane

Abstract

A partial analysis of the 400 MHz 1H nmr spectrum of isopropylcyclopropane yields 8.6 ± 0.2 Hz for the vicinal proton–proton coupling constant between a cyclopropyl proton and the methine proton of the isopropyl group. The fractional population of the s-trans conformer is estimated as 0.65 ± 0.l0 at 300 K, in reasonable agreement with molecular mechanics and INDO MO computations of the energies of the gauche and trans forms.The conformational preference of this molecule is similar to that in n-butane and in vinylcyclopropane but contrasts with that in biisopropyl and bicyclopropyl.