The Radical Anions of Heptalene and 1, 7-Methano-[12]annulene

The radical anions of heptalene and of 1, 7-methano-[12]annulene are generated by metal reduction and characterized by means of their ESR-spectra. Whereas the neutral hydrocarbons are π-bond localized their corresponding radical anions turn out to be π-bond delocalized. This could be deduced from an interpretation of the different hyperfine splittings using a simple MO-model.