The Radical Anions of N,N′-Dicyanoquinone Diimines,a New Class of Electron Acceptors

The radical anions of 12 N,N′-dicyanoquinone diimines, a new class of electron acceptors, hace been characterized by their hyperfine data with the use of ESR and ENDOR spectroscopy. The largest coupling constant (0.30–0.45 mT), due to the two ¹⁴N nuclei in the exocyclic positions, gives rise to a conspicuous broadening of the peripheral ESR lines by an incomplete averaging of the hyperfine anisotropy. The most plausible interpretation of the experimental results for the radical anions of N,N′-dicyano- 1,4-benzoquinone diimine ( 1 ) and N,N′-Dicyano-9,10-anthraquinone diimine ( 9 ) is in terms of both ‘syn’- and ‘anti’-configurations contributing to the ESR and ENDOR spectra and having equal proton- and ¹⁴N-coupling constants. The π-spin distribution in the radical anions of N,N′-dicyanoquinone diimines is compared with those in the analogous ions of tetracyanoquinodimethanes and quinones.