Structural Studies of Crystalline Enamines

Abstract

Crystal structure analyses of five crystalline enamines together with recently published structural data for two other enamines reveal varying degree of pyramidality at the enamine nitrogen atom. The pyramidality appears to be most pronounced in enamines from piperidine and morpholine, less so in enamines derived from prolinoid amines. A pyrolidine enamine obtained from a derivative of cyclohexane‐1,4‐dione seems to have a virtually planar enamine group. The implications of these findings for current stereochemical problems in enamine chemistry are discussed.