4 research outputs found
A Radically Configurable Six-State Compound
Most organic radicals possess short lifetimes and quickly undergo dimerization or oxidation.
Here, we report on the synthesis by radical templation of a class of air- and water-stable
organic radicals, trapped within a homo[2]catenane composed of two rigid and fixed cyclobis
(paraquat-p-phenylene) rings. The highly energetic octacationic homo[2]catenane, which is
capable of accepting up to eight electrons, can be configured reversibly, both chemically
and electrochemically, between each one of six experimentally accessible redox states
(0, 2+, 4+, 6+, 7+, and 8+) from within the total of nine states evaluated by quantum
mechanical methods. All six of the observable redox states have been identified by electrochemical
techniques, three (4+, 6+, and 7+) have been characterized by x-ray crystallography, four
(4+, 6+, 7+, and 8+) by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, one (7+) by
superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry, and one (8+) by nuclear
magnetic resonance spectroscopy