The 13C chemical shifts of the azomethine carbon atoms have been determined for a series of metaand para-substituted benzylideneanilines PhCH=NC6H4R3 (1 )-( 8), p-No2C6H4CH=Nc6H,R3 (9)-(17), R1C6H,CH=NPh (18)-(26), and p-N0,C6H4C(CN)=NC6H,R3 (27)-(32) in CDCI, solution. For the compounds (1)-(17), good p + a + correlations are observed; the p+ values are 2.73 for compounds (1)-(8) and 3.52 for the compounds (9)-( 17). However, the shifts with m-and p-nitro substituents show small but appreciable lower-field deviations. For the compounds (1 8)-(26) plots of chemical shifts vs. a+ constants give t w o lines intersecting at 0 ' = 0, explicable by the overlapping effects. For the nitriles (27)-(32) the plots give two lines which do not intersect, but plots of chemical shifts vs. the reciprocals of the h,,, of the K band of the electronic spectra are found to be a straight line. This is explicable in terms of unusually strong resonance electron donation from the phenylimino system.Reaction constants (p') changed from 2.49 for (1)-(3) through 3.28 for (9)-(11) t o 9.39 for (27)-(29). Apart from the dihedral angle, the sensitivities of chemical shifts t o the electronic effects of the substituents in the aniline ring are affected strongly by the degree of electron demand of the carbon atom of the C=N moiety.N-Benzylideneanilines are generally accepted to adopt E-nonplanar or E-dihedral structures on the basis of their dipole moment studies,'** UV spectra,2-6 X-ray ~rystallography,'.~ ' 3C N M R spectra,' and molecular-orbital st~dies.~.' Since the geometry in the solid state depends on molecular packing," it is not always the same as that irr solutions nor in the vapour state. Because of these peculiar conformations studies of electronic substituent effects have been extensive with regard to physical and chemical properties such as IR vmaX,l ' polarographic halfwave potential,12 reaction rates of N-alkylation l 3 and of cis-trans is~merisation,'~ base strength,' rate and equilibrium constants for addition reaction^,'^-'^ and azomethine ' 3C chemical shifts.' While the effects on reaction rates depend on the reaction mechani~rns,'~-'~ p +o+ correlations have been observed for the equilibrium constants " p l ' Paper 8/03034K