1H NMR Chemical Shifts of Cyclopropane and Cyclobutane: A Theoretical Study

This study was undertaken in order to rationalize the peculiar H-1 NMR chemical shifts of cyclopropane (delta 0.22) and cyclobutane (delta 1.98) which are shifted upfield and downfield with respect to larger cycloalkanes (delta 1.44-1.54). This is conventionally accounted for by shielding contributions arising from an aromatic-like ring current in cyclopropane, involving six electrons in the three C-C bonds, and deshielding coming from the sigma antiaromatic CC framework of cyclobutane. The shielding pattern arising from the cyclopropane and cyclobutane CC framework response to a perpendicular magnetic field was visualized as two-dimensional grid distribution of NICS values. Further insight into the origin of chemical shift values was obtained by the NCS-NBO analysis of proton shielding tensor. In the case of cyclopropane, the CC framework shielding pattern implies the existence of both delocalized and localized currents that have a dominant shielding effect on protons. The magnitude of C-H bonds shielding effect is significant, too. Unlike the conventional interpretation, the CC framework shields cyclobutane hydrogens, and its response to a perpendicular magnetic field is quite similar to responses of other planar sigma CC frameworks.