[8]Cyclo-para-phenylmethine as A Super-Cyclooctatetraene: Dynamic Behavior, Global Aromaticity, and Open-Shell Diradical Character in The Neutral and Dicationic States

Zhengtao Li, Xudong Hou, Yi Han, Wei Fan, Yong Ni, Qifeng Zhou, Jun Zhu, Shaofei Wu, Kuo-Wei Huang, Jishan Wu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

An [8]cyclo-para-phenylmethine derivative ([8]CPPM-Mes) was synthesized. X-ray analysis revealed a tub-shaped geometry similar to the cyclooctatetraene, with alternating benzenoid/quinoid structure. Variable-temperature NMR measurements disclosed a slow valence tautomerization process with an interconversion energy barrier of about 11.7 kcal/mol at coalescence temperature (273 K), and two more lower-barrier dynamic processes involving flipping of the 1,4-phenyl rings on the backbone and rotation of the mesityl substituents. Its dication ([8]CPPM-Mes2+) adopts a bowl-like geometry with a smaller depth of the cavity, and a slow bowl inversion process was observed by dynamic NMR. The bond lengths of the benzenoid/quinoid rings are more averaged via electron delocalization and the molecule shows global aromaticity, which was further validated by NMR and theoretical analysis. [8]CPPM-Mes2+ exhibits open-shell diradical character with a small singlet-triplet energy gap(-1.8 kcal/mol).

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2022-09-14
Acknowledgements: J.W. acknowledges financial support from MOE Tier 2 grant (MOE2019-T2-1-030), NRF Investigatorship (NRF-NRFI05-2019-0005)and Applied Materials-NUS Advanced Materials Corporate Lab(I1801E0022).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Catalysis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of '[8]Cyclo-para-phenylmethine as A Super-Cyclooctatetraene: Dynamic Behavior, Global Aromaticity, and Open-Shell Diradical Character in The Neutral and Dicationic States'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this