SOLVENT EFFECTS ON THE CONFORMER DISTRIBUTION OF 2-METHOXYPROPANAL AND CHLOROACETALDEHYDE - A MODEL CASE FOR THE CONFORMATIONAL-ANALYSIS INSOLUTION OF CHIRAL ALDEHYDES INCLUDING POLAR GROUPS

A detailed conformational analysis of 2-methoxypropanal including solv ent effects and electron correlation is reported. It is found that the conformer distribution is substantially different from that obtained in vacuo. In general, conformations in which the carbonyl and alkoxy d ipoles are synperiplanar to each other are stabilized with respect to the gas phase. Donating groups such a methyl or hydrogen groups are pr eferably orthogonally disposed with respect to the carbonyl groups. A computational study on the conformational analysis of chloroacetaldehy de is also reported. It is found that the conformer distribution is re versed with respect to the gas phase. The differences in energy are in excellent agreement with the experimental values.