RAJ CAPOOR. Can. J. Chem. 55,2642Chem. 55, (1977.The effect of substituents at the 3-position in a series of N-methyl 5,6-dihydro-7H,l2H-dibenzo [c,f]azocines on the geminal coupling constants of the C-12 methylene protons has been determined. The slope of the Hammett plot of 'J us. o has been found to be + 0.20. The orientation of the methylene protons with respect to the n orbitals of the benzene ring bearing the substituent is such that no hyperconjugative effect should be present. The value of +0.20 is in contrast to a previously measured slope of -1.9 for compounds having a geometry ideal for hyperconjugative effects and substantiates the predictions of theoretical MO calculations. As a result, the reliability of this conformational dependence of p for use in conformational analysis has been strengthened.A comparison of the data for the azocines with those in the literature indicates the difference between the minimum and maximum effects of a phenyl substituent on a geminal coupling constant of an attached methylene group is 5.5 Hz. We have previously shown (l,2) that the effect of para substituents on the geminal coupling constants of the methylene protons in several series of benzylic systems was proportional to the Hammett substituent constants and that the magnitude of change in '5, represented by p, the slope of the Hammett plot, depended upon the conformation of the methylene protons with respect to the adjacent aromatic ring. This angular dependence was attributed to the fact that hyperconjugation of a benzene ring with the 'NRCC No. 15949. 'Present address: Defence Research Establishment Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada. adjacent methylene group causes a negative shift3 in J which is itself angularly dependent. Both valence bond (VB) calculations (6) and molecular orbital (MO) calculations (7) predicted a maximum effect on 'J when + = 0" and no effect when + = 90", where + is defined using the conformers shown in Fig. 1. However, in the calculations, there was a discrepancy between the predictions of the VB and MO methods in the region of + = 90". The former predicted a 3Since the geminal coupling constants in benzylic systems have been shown to be negative (3), it is most convenient to describe the effect of, for example, the phenyl group in toluene ('J = -14.8 HZ (4)) US. methane ('J = -12.4 (5)) as causing a negative shift in 'J.Can. J. Chem. Downloaded from www.nrcresearchpress.com by 54.191.190.102 on 05/11/18For personal use only.