Conformational analysis of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydropteroic acid and 5,6,7,84etrahydro-~-foIic acid
SummaryIn the 360-MHz-'H-NMR.-spectrum of (6 R, S)-9,9-dideuterio-5,6,7, S-tetrahydropteroic acid (racemic) (XIII) (AMX-System, Fig. 4) and (6R, S)-9,9-dideuterio-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-L-folic acid (diastereomeric) (XVI) the Ha-C (6) and Ha-C(7) show a vicinal coupling constant of 6,7 Hz and the Ha-C(6) and He-C(7) one of 3,2 Hz. The first coupling constant provides evidence for an approximate trans-diaxal arrangement of Ha-C(6) and Ha-C(7), and the second for a gauche conformation of Ha-C (6) and He-C (7). The tetrahydropyrazine ring in the racemic 5,6,7,8-tetrahydropteroic acid (111) and in the diastereomeric 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-Lfolic acid (XVII) exists therefore in a half-chair conformation with a pseudoequatorialposition of the side chain at C(6) (Fig. 5).