Quantification of the Push−Pull Effect in Tolanes and a Revaluation of the Factors Affecting the13C Chemical Shifts of the Carbon Atoms of the C⋮C Triple Bond

Variously substituted tolanes were employed to show that the push-pull effect is also active in CC triple bonds by the successful correlation of the occupation quotient pi/pi of the pi orbital in resonance with the substituted phenyl moieties of tolanes versus the bond length of the CC triple bond. In addition, the influences of the ortho phenyl ring substituents on the 13C chemical shifts of the triple bond carbon atoms, which were estimated by Rubin et al.(4) to be "inapplicable for describing triple bond polarization", were re-evaluated, leading to the conclusion that, while anisotropic effects of ortho substituents are negligible, the steric ortho-substituent effects do in fact dominate the deviations obtained. A detailed theoretical NBO/NCS study has been employed to illuminate the facts of this case.