High-Field NMR Spectroscopy Reveals Aromaticity-Modulated Hydrogen Bonding in Heterocycles

From DNA base pairs to drug-receptor binding, hydrogen (H-)bonding and aromaticity are common features of heterocycles. Herein, the interplay of these bonding aspects is explored. H-bond strength modulation due to enhancement or disruption of aromaticity of heterocycles is experimentally revealed by comparing homodimer H-bond energies of aromatic heterocycles with analogs that have the same H-bonding moieties but lack cyclic π-conjugation. NMR studies of dimerization in C D find aromaticity-modulated H-bonding (AMHB) energy effects of approximately ±30 %, depending on whether they enhance or weaken aromatic delocalization. The attendant ring current perturbations expected from such modulation are confirmed by chemical shift changes in both observed ring C-H and calculated nucleus-independent sites. In silico modeling confirms that AMHB effects outweigh those of hybridization or dipole-dipole interaction.