Intramolecular Hydrogen Bond Strength and p<i>K</i>_a Determination of <i>N</i>,<i>N‘</i>-Disubstituted Imidazole-4,5-dicarboxamides

Abstract

N,N'-Disubstituted imidazole-4,5-dicarboxamides (I45DCs) form an intramolecular hydrogen bond worth an estimated 14 +/- 1 kcal/mol, as measured with a model structure in DMSO-d6 at 3 mM, thereby predisposing the molecular conformation to a folded rather than extended form. The I45DCs also show evidence of aggregation in both CDCl3 (>1 mM) and DMSO-d6 (>10 mM) solutions. These compounds are uncharacteristically weak bases in comparison with imidazoles bearing similar electron-withdrawing groups.