“Methoxy and Methyl Group Rotation: Solid-State NMR 1H Spin-Lattice Relaxation, Electronic Structure Calculations, X-ray Diffractometry, and Scanning Electron Microscopy”
ChemPhysChem, Vol. 16, issue 7, pp 1509-1519, 17 March 2015 (online)
with Peter A. Beckmann, Clelia W. Mallory, Arnold L Rheingold, and Xianlong Wang
We report solid-state 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-lattice relaxation experiments, X-ray diffractometry, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and both single-molecule and cluster ab initio electronic structure calculations on 1-methoxyphenanthrene (1) and 3-methoxyphenanthrene (2) to investigate the rotation of the methoxy groups and their constituent methyl groups. The electronic structure calculations and the 1H NMR relaxation measurements can be used together to determine barriers for the rotation of a methoxy group and its constituent methyl group and to develop models for the two coupled motions.