Conformational properties and intramolecular hydrogen bonding of tetraethyl resorcarene: an ab initio study

The relative stability of the five extreme conformations of tetraethyl resorcarene was studied by ab initio calculations. The stabilizing effect of intramolecular hydrogen bonding was clearly observed. In addition, the directions of the hydrogen bonds affected the stability, the homodirectional orientation being favoured. The symmetrical C4 ‘crown’ conformation, having a circular array of hydrogen bonds, was identified as the most stable conformational form of the resorcarene molecule.