The Radical Anions and Trianions of 1,8-Diphenylnaphthalene and of Some of its Derivatives Containing a Cyclophane Substructure

The radical anions of 1,8-diphenylnaphthalene ( 1 ) and its decadeuterio-(D₁₀- 1 ) and dimethyl-( 2 ) derivatives, as well as those of 2.0.0] (1,4)benzeno(1,8)naphthaleno(1,4)benzenophane ( 3 ) and its olefinic analogue ( 4 ) have been studied by ESR and ENDOR spectroscopy, At a variance with a previous report, the spin population in \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {1}^{-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document} and \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {2}^{-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document} is to a great extent localized in the naphthalene moiety. A similar spin distribution is found for \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {3}^{-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document} and \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {4}^{-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document}. The ground conformations of \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {1}^{-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document}-\documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {4}^{-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document} are chiral of C₂ symmetry. For \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {1}^{-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document}, an energy barrier between these conformations and the angle of twist about the bonds linking the naphthalene moiety with the phenyl substituents were estimated as ca. 50 kJ/mol and ca. 45°, respectively. The radical trianions of 1 , D₁₀- 1 , and 2 , have also been characterized by their hyperfine data. In \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {1}^{3-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document} and \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {2}^{3-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document}, the bulk of the spin population resides in the two benzene rings so that these radical trianions can be regarded as the radical anions of ‘open-chain cyclophanes’ with a fused naphthalene π-system bearing almost two negative charges. The main features of the spin distribution in both \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {1}^{-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document} and \documentclass{article}\pagestyle{empty}\begin{document}$ \rm {1}^{3-\kern-4pt {.}} $\end{document} are correctly predicted by an HMO model of 1 .