A Dicyanomethyl Radical Conjugated with a Pyridylamino Group: Combining Radical-based Dynamic Covalent Chemistry and Coordination Chemistry

In this work, we aimed to develop a dicyanomethyl radical that undergoes both reversible C−C bond formation/dissociation and metal-ligand coordination reactions to combine dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC) based on organic radicals with coordination chemistry. We have previously reported a dicyanomethyl radical conjugated with a triphenylamine ( 1 ⋅) that exhibits a monomer/dimer equilibrium between the σ-bonded dimer ( 1₂ ). We designed and synthesized a novel dicyanomethyl radical with a pyridyl group as a coordination point ( 2 ⋅) by replacing the phenyl group of 1 ⋅ with a 3-pyridyl group. We showed that 2 ⋅ is also in an equilibrium with the σ-bonded dimer ( 2₂ ) in solution and has suitable thermodynamic parameters for application in DCC. 2₂ coordinates to PdCl₂ in a 2 : 2 ratio to selectively form a metallamacrocycle ( 2₂ )₂(PdCl₂)₂, and its structure was clarified by single crystal X-ray analysis. Variable-temperature NMR, ESR, and electronic absorption measurements revealed that ( 2₂ )₂(PdCl₂)₂ also undergoes the reversible C−C bond formation/dissociation reaction. Ligand-exchange experiment showed that 2₂ was liberated from ( 2₂ )₂(PdCl₂)₂ by the addition of another ligand with a higher affinity for Pd^II. This work demonstrated that DCC based on dicyanomethyl radicals works orthogonally to metal-ligand coordination reactions.