Concerning lone-pair stereospecificity of intramolecular OH hydrogen bonds to oxygen and sulfur in solution

The 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra for CCl 4 solutions are analyzed for 2-(thioethyl)phenol, 2,3-dimethoxyphenol, and 8-hydroxythiochroman. The chemical shifts of the hydroxyl protons in these compounds, in 2,3-dihydroxyanisole, and 2-hydroxybenzyl methyl ether are discussed in terms of stereospecific intramolecular OH hydrogen bonds to lone-pair electrons on oxygen and sulfur. The OH ... O hydrogen bonds can be adequately discussed in terms of equivalent lone pairs on oxygen. There is very little difference between the hydrogen bond energies for 2,3-dihydroxyanisole and 2,3-dimethoxyphenol. In the latter the central hydrogen bonded methoxy group lies nearly perpendicular to the ring plane. The OH ... S hydrogen bonds are best described in terms of nonequivalent, 3s and 3p, lone pairs on sulfur. It is estimated that an OH ... H 3s hydrogen bond is at least 8 kJ/mol weaker than an OH ... 3p hydrogen bond. The former is predominant in the thiochroman derivative and the latter in the thioethylphenol, in which the thioethyl group prefers a plane perpendicular to the benzene ring. The long-range benzylic coupling constants in the thiochroman derivative indicate inversion of the saturated ring between distorted half-chair conformations. The boat conformation can be ruled out.