Formation of high-spin complexes in reactions of oxides of the γ-Al2O3 type with radical pairs of sterically shielded semiquinones: A new procedure for the preparation of organometallic polyradicals and their ESR spectra

A new simple method was developed for the preparation of organometallic bi- and triradicals by the heterogeneous reaction of γ-Al₂O₃ or analogous oxides with free radicals generated in solution through the interaction of 3,6-di-tert-butyl-o-benzoquinone with 3,6-di-tert-butylpyrocatechol. An explanation was offered for the plus sign of the dipoledipole coupling constant observed previously in the ESR spectra recorded in a superstrong field at low temperatures. Deceased. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 298–302, February, 1997.     

Clar Goblet and Aromaticity Driven Multiradical Nanographenes

The Clar Goblet, the first radical bowtie nanographene proposed by Erich Clar nearly 50 years ago, was recently synthesized. Bowtie nanographenes present quasi-degenerate magnetic ground states, which make them so elusive as unique. A thorough analysis is presented of the spin-state energetics of Clar Goblet and bowtie nanographenes by a battery of existing and novel ab initio procedures ranging from density functional theory to complete active space Hamiltonians. With this, it was proven that π radicals of bowtie nanographenes sit on BP (Benzo[cd]Pyrene) moieties driven by their local aromaticity, a purely chemical concept, which confers global stability to the whole structure. Besides, a novel Pauli energy densities analysis provided a visual intuitive explanation for this preference. These findings allow envisioning that analogous bowtie nanographenes with arbitrary polyradical character are not only feasible at the molecular scale but will share Clar Goblet's peculiar properties.     

Ab initio quantum-chemical calculations of interactions of ions and hydrides of alkali metals with C3H6 and C4H8 molecules

Calculations of the C₃H₆ · LiH, C₄H₈ · M⁺, and C₄H₈ · MH systems and of C₂H₂ · MH complexes (M = Li or Na) were carried out by the unrestricted Hartree-Fock-Roothaan (UHF) method with partial optimization of the geometry using fixed geometric parameters of the C₃H₆ and C₄H₈ molecules. The standard 3-21G and 6-31G* basis sets were used. Unlike the C₃H₆ · LiH structure, the C₄H₈ · M⁺ and C₄H₈ · MH systems are typical complexes. It was found that the C₄H₈ · M⁺, C₄H₈ · MH, and C₂H₂ · MH complexes are similar in coordination of M⁺ ions and MH molecules by carbon atoms in spite of considerable differences in the interatomic distances (–1 A) between these atoms in the C₄H₈ and C₂H₂ molecules. The heats of formation (Q), which were calculated in the UHF/6-31G* approximation and using second- and fourth-order Möller-Plesset perturbation theory taking into account the electron correlation energy in the MP2/6-31G*. MP4(SDQ)/6-31G*, and MP4(SDTQ)/6-31G* approximations, satisfy the following relationships: Q(C₂H₃ · MH) < Q(C₄H₈ · MH) < Q(C₄H₈ · M⁺). It was observed that in going from Li to Na the corresponding values of Q tend to decrease.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya. No. 7, pp. 1636–1640, July, 1996.     

Solid-state photochemical generation of polymeric polyradicals: Poly(4-vinylphenoxy) and copolymers with styrene

Synthesis of poly(4′-vinyl-2,4,6-tri-tert-butyl-diphenyloxalate) and its 65 : 35 and 19 : 81 copolymers with styrene are described. Rigid phase broad-band photolysis of the homopolymer with a quartz filtered xenon arc at 77 K results in production of up to 25% of the theoretical number of spins/mol expected for quantitative production of pendant phenoxyl radicals, and shows no major loss of radical signal in the ESR at temperatures below 100 K. Curie law analysis of the temperature dependence of the ESR radical signal intensity for the neat photolyzed homopolymer 1 shows curvature consistent with antiferromagnetic pairing of radical spins at low temperatures. Since through-bond conjugation of radical spins is not possible in this system, the antiferromagnetic interaction is interpreted in terms of intrachain and/or interchain through-space exchange interactions.     

Regiospecific design strategies for 3‐arylpolythiophenes with pendant stable radical groups

Carbon—carbon bond‐forming polymerization of 2‐bromo‐3‐(3′,5′‐di‐t‐butyl‐4′‐methoxyphenyl)‐thiophene yields poly[3‐(3′,5′‐di‐t‐butyl‐4′‐methoxyphenyl)‐2,5‐thienylene] with regiospecific connectivity and a degree of polymerization of about six. Lewis‐acid‐moderated‐cleavage of the methoxy groups on the pendant phenyl group yield the corresponding polyphenolic polymer, which is oxidized under solution conditions to yield the title polyradical. Poly[3‐(3′,5′‐di‐t‐butyl‐4′‐oxyphenyl)‐2,5‐thienylene] exhibits a strong, persistent electron spin resonance spectrum and a UV–visible spectrum consistent with formation of the pendant phenoxyl spin‐bearing units. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 779–788, 1999     

Formation of mono-, bi-, and polyradicals upon reduction of poly(arylenesulfophthalides) by metallic lithium

The reduction of poly(biphenylenesulfophthalide) (1), poly(fluorenylenesulfophthalide) (2), and poly(terphenylenesulfophthalide) (3) by metallic lithium in DMSO was studied using UV-visible and ESR spectroscopies. The reduction of compounds 1 and 2 affords blue diamagnetic color centers with absorption bands at 568 and 350 nm (shoulder) for 1 and at 576 and 360 nm (shoulder) for 2. The color centers were attributed to quinoid structures of the Chichibabin"s hydrocarbon type, being biradicals in the ground singlet state. The spectra of compounds 1 and 2 also exhibit weak absorption bands at 420 nm, which are assigned to monoradicals of the triarylmethyl type. The reduction of compound 3, for which the formation of quinoid structures is energetically unfavorable, leads to polyradicals of the triarylmethyl type with a high content (100%) of unpaired electrons in the main polymer chain. These radicals are characterized by absorption bands at 430 nm (allowed transition) and 638 nm (forbidden transition). The paramagnetic centers in all polymers under study give singlet lines with g = 2.0028 and H 10 Oe in the ESR spectra. The color centers and radicals of the triarylmethyl type observed for the poly(arylenesulfophthalides) under study are assumed to be formed upon the dissociative electron transfer from lithium to the sulfophthalide cycles of the polymeric molecules. The PM3 calculations show a high electron affinity of the sulfophthalide cycle and a higher propensity of the fluorenyl bridge to form quinoid structures than that of the biphenyl bridge.     

The Antiferromagnetic Spin Coupling in Non‐Kekulé Acenes—Impressive Polyradical Character Revealed by High‐Level Multireference Methods

Complete active space (CASSCF) and multireference (MR‐CISD(Q) and MR‐AQCC) calculations were performed for non‐Kekulé analogues of acenes, dimethylenepolycyclobutadienes, with lengths of up to eight cyclobutadiene (CBD) units. Multireference calculations predict that the most stable energy state of the system is either triplet (if there is an odd number of CBD units) or singlet (if there is an even number of CBD units) due to antiferromagnetic spin coupling, which thus violates Hund's rule in larger molecules. We also show an impressive polyradical character in the system that increases with the size of the molecule, as witnessed by more than eleven unpaired electrons in the singlet state of the molecule with eight CBD units. Together with the small energy gap between singlet and higher multiplicity energy states even above the triplet state, this demonstrates the exceptional polyradical properties of these π‐conjugated oligomeric chains.     

Kekulé versus Lewis: When Aromaticity Prevents Electron Pairing and Imposes Polyradical Character

Some conjugated alternant hydrocarbons, of singlet ground state according to Ovchinnikov’s rule, may exhibit strong polyradical character, despite admitting complete pairing of electrons in bond orbitals between adjacent atoms. Typical organizations of this kind are encountered in polycyclic frames supporting two or more extracyclic methylene groups. Lewis bond pairing would require quinonization of six‐membered rings, whereas safeguarding aromaticity proves sufficient to impose ground‐state open‐shell character, that is, the existence of unpaired electrons, providing the number of benzene rings to be quinonized is larger than two. Several examples built as variations around para‐polyphenylene frames are examined through unrestricted DFT (UDFT) calculations, using various methods for spin decontamination of wavefunctions, geometries, and singlet–triplet energy gaps. They all illustrate how it is possible to conceive architectures that can be written with a closed‐shell bond pairing, although they exhibit a large number of unpaired electrons. The same analyses also apply to systems in which quinonization would not kill but only reduce the number of unpaired electrons.