Synthesis, characterization and conformational studies of arylbenzylmaleimides

From the discoveries of Pasteur, stereochemistry has played an increasingly important role in the chemical sciences. In particular conformational study of molecules with axial chirality is object of intense research. Through Dynamic-NMR analysis and simulation of the spectra, the energy rotational barriers value of conformers are obtained. When this barrier is high sufficiently, atropisomeric stable compounds can be reached. They can be separated and used in stereo-synthesis and in packing processes. 3,4-bis-aryl maleimides, in which the aromatic groups are sufficiently bulky, generate atropisomeric stable configurations, that can be isolated at room temperature. The assignment of absolute configurations is performed through ECD analysis and comparison with computational calculations. The biological activities of maleimide derivatives widen the field of atropisomers application also in biological systems.