The OH chemical shift of the enol form of nitromalonamide is found at 18.9 ppm both in DMSO-d(6) and in DMF-d(7) indicating a very strong hydrogen bond. The OH chemical shift is insensitive to temperature changes. Contrary to the large OH chemical shift, a small two-bond deuterium isotope effect of 0.135 ppm due to deuteration at the OH position is found at the enolic carbon. This is confirmed by density functional theory calculations. The observed effects are interpreted as due to an equilibrium between identical enolic forms. These show a strong OH...O hydrogen bond as well as a NH...O-N=O hydrogen bond.
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