Solvent effects on the conformer distribution of 2-methoxypropanal and chloroacetaldehyde. A model case for the conformational analysis in solution of chiral aldehydes including polar groups

A detailed conformational analysis of 2-methoxypropanal including solvent 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 dipoles are synperiplanar to each other are stabilized with respect to the gas phase. Donating groups such a methyl or hydrogen groups are preferably orthogonally disposed with respect to the carbonyl groups. A computational study on the conformational analysis of chloroacetaldehyde is also reported. It is found that the conformer distribution is reversed with respect to the gas phase. The differences in energy are in excellent agreement with the experimental values.