New Bis‐o‐Benzoquinoid Ligands with Ethylene Bridge and Their Metal Complexes

The treatment of di‐o‐quinone 4,4′‐(ethane‐1,2‐diyl)‐bis(3,6‐di‐tert‐butyl‐o‐benzoquinone) (Q–CH₂–CH₂–Q, 1 ) leads to its rearrangement to form di‐p‐quinomethide 4,4′‐(ethane‐1,2‐diylidene)bis(2‐hydroxy‐3,6‐di‐tert‐butyl‐cyclohexa‐2,5‐dienone) ( 2 ). The subsequent oxidation of 2 by an alkaline solution of K₃[Fe(CN)₆] yielded the new di‐o‐quinone 4,4′‐(ethene‐1,2‐diyl)bis(3,6‐di‐tert‐butyl‐o‐benzoquinone) (Q–CH=CH–Q, 3 ), which contains an ethylene bridge. The formation of mono‐ and poly‐reduced derivatives of 2 and 3 with potassium, thallium was studied by EPR technique. The dinuclear thallium derivative of 3 , Tl(SQ–CH=CH–SQ)Tl, was found to exist in the diamagnetic quinomethide form. The most stable derivatives of 2 and 3 are triphenyltin(IV) bis‐p‐quinomethide‐phenolate ( 4 ) and triphenylantimony(V) bis‐catecholate ( 5 ), which have been synthesized and isolated. The molecular structures of 2 , 3 , and 5 were characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction.