Stable Mono‐Radical and Triplet Diradicals Based on Allylic Radical‐Embedded All‐Benzenoid Polycyclic Hydrocarbons
High-spin organic radicals are notable for their unique optical, electronic, and magnetic properties, but synthesizing stable high-spin systems is challenging due to their inherent reactivity. This study presents a novel strategy for designing stable high-spin polycyclic hydrocarbons (PHs) by incorporating allylic radical into fused aromatic benzenoid rings. To enhance stability, large steric hindrance groups with a synergistic captodative effect were added to the allylic radical centers. This approach was applied to synthesize derivatives of two open-shell all-benzenoid PHs: benzo[fg]tetracene (1) and dibenzo[fg,lm]heptacene (2). Both compounds exhibited excellent stability, with diradical 2 showing a half-life of up to 17.2 days under ambient conditions. Bond length analysis and theoretical calculations suggest that 1 and 2 predominantly feature Clar's aromatic sextet structures with embedded allylic radicals. Compound 2 was confirmed to have a triplet ground state through DFT calculations and experimental methods, including pulse EPR spectroscopy and SQUID measurements. This work introduces a new design strategy for stable high-spin hydrocarbons, paving the way for future developments in high-spin organic materials.
Authors
- Yi Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5000-8818)
- Tian Di (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4107-5917)
- Lemin Zhang
- Guangwu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4849-2513)
- Jishan Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8231-0437)
- Tianyu Jiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5423-1061)
- Lei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9242-1109)
- Ya Zou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6105-879X)
- Weiwei Niu
- Xudong Hou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0710-2558)
Institutions
- Tianjin University (CN)
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Nankai University (CN)
- Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2024-11-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202415746
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- Synthesis and Properties of Aromatic Compounds
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.75
Funders
- Agency for Science, Technology and Research
- National Research Foundation Singapore