Tunneling and conformational preferences in <i>racemic</i>- and <i>meso</i>-2,4-pentanediol: A rotational spectroscopic and theoretical investigation

The rotational spectra of a mixture of 2,4-pentanediol (PDL) isomers, comprising both the meso isomers [(2R, 4S) and (2S, 4R)] and the racemic isomers [(2R, 4R) and (2S, 4S)], were recorded using a chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectrometer coupled to a supersonic jet expansion. The conformational landscapes of meso- and racemic-PDL were examined using the Conformer-Rotamer Ensemble Sampling Tool and high-level quantum chemical calculations, generating 26 and 25 conformers, respectively. Five sets of rotational transitions were observed and assigned, with two attributed to meso-PDL and the remaining three attributed to racemic-PDL. Furthermore, tunneling splittings were observed for both meso-PDL conformers, and the nudged elastic band method was utilized to map the corresponding tunneling pathways and obtain tunneling barriers. To rationalize relative abundances of the observed conformers and the non-observation of other low-energy conformers, possible conversion pathways among meso-PDL conformers and racemic-PDL conformers were also explored. Finally, ten carbon-13 isotopologues, five from each of the lowest-energy meso- and racemic-PDL conformers, were detected in natural abundance and used to establish the corresponding geometries. These results offer valuable insights into the stereoisomeric behaviors and conformational preferences within flexible diols.