Warfarin in solution is shown to consist of three interconverting tautomeric structures, two of which are cyclic diastereomeric hemiketals, while the third and minor component is the open-chain intermediate form. The configurations of all the tautomers as well as the major conformations of the cyclic tautomers are assigned. The assignments are supported by comparison with the chemical shift and coupling constant parameters of structurally fixed model compounds.
Chemical Phenomena Chemistry