Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.116, No.22, 10174-10177, 1994
Low-Temperature Disappearance of Spin Correlation in Flexible 1,N-Biradicals (N=22, 24, 26)
The direct detection electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of three flexible polymethylene 1,n-biradicals (n = 22, 24, and 26) in tetrahydrofuran solution at low temperatures are reported. The acyl-alkyl biradicals, which show broad spin-polarized EPR transitions at room temperature and above, exhibit unusual structure at temperatures below 240 K. Simulations show that this additional fine structure is due to a collapse of emissive and absorptive transitions into each other, caused by a steady decrease in the spin exchange interaction (J) between the unpaired electrons, The effect is more pronounced at lower temperatures as the chains assume more extended conformations. For the C-26 biradical the lowest temperature spectrum clearly shows the residual doublet state CIDEP (emissive/absorptive) indicative of uncorrelated radical centers. This transition from correlated to uncorrelated spins in a tethered chain is discussed in terms of through-bond and through-solvent spin-spin coupling mechanisms averaged over the equilibrium distribution of chain conformers.
Keywords:CROSSING RATE CONSTANTS;RADICAL PAIRS;POLYMETHYLENE BIRADICALS;ELECTRON-TRANSFER;LIQUID SOLUTIONS;PATHWAY ANALYSIS;SPECTROSCOPY;EPR;RESONANCE;ABINITIO