Organic radical molecular solids based on [(TCNQ)n] (n=1 or 2): Syntheses, crystal structures, magnetic properties and DFT analyses

Four molecular solids consisting of the 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) radical and benzylpyridinium or benzylquinolinium derivatives with molar ratios of 1:1 (1-3) and 2:1 (4) have been prepared and characterized. In the crystals of 1 and 3, TCNQ⁻ monoanions and the corresponding cations form segregated stacks, which are regular in 1 but irregular in 3. Instead of segregated stacks, TCNQ⁻ monoanions in 2 form isolated π-dimers. In the crystals of 4, two crystallographic independent TCNQ species possess almost equal fractional negative charge (ca. −0.5). Two types of TCNQ species form a tetrad, these tetrads make a TCNQ stack with the pattern …BAAB…BAAB… along the crystallographic a-b direction. The magnetisms for 1-4 can be simply explained by the formation of singlet spin state. A broken symmetry approach in a density functional theory framework at the ub3lyp/6-31 g level was used to calculate the magnetic exchange constants in 1-4. The results qualitatively demonstrate the observed magnetic properties.