Porphyrins diradicals

In metal complexes of FTF5 and DPA, both single two-electron and double one-electron redox couples were observed. [(FTF5)Zn2] is diamagnetic, whereas the EPR spectmm of [(DPA)Zn2] was interpreted as that of a triplet that was complicated by aggregation. Why the ground electronic state of [(DPA)Zn2] is a triplet remains to be established a triplet porphyrin diradical was thought to be unique in porphyrin chemistry [LeMest et al., 1992]. 

In 1989, the irradiation of (E,E)-2,4-hexadiene S3 sensitized by meso-porphyrin IX dimethyl ester led to the formation of cis-3,6-dimethyl-l,2-dioxene (62), which was the major product detected at — 78 °C in Freon 11 [69]. Endoperoxide 62 was purified under vacuum at 0.75 mmHg, and collected in a trap (98% isolated yield). Dienes that can adopt a cisoid conformation, such as 53 or ( , )-l,4-di phenyl butadiene, were photooxidized by the corresponding endoperoxides in high or quantitative yield in a suprafacial Diels-Alder reaction [60, 70], Dienes that cannot readily adopt cisoid conformations, such as (fc, Z)-2,4-hexadienes and (Z, Z)-2,4-hexadienes, lose their stereochemistry in the singlet oxygen [2 + 4]-cyclo-addition [60], (E,Z)- and (Z,Z)-dienes give a complex mixture of hydroperoxides and aldehydes, which suggests the intervention of intermediate zwitterions or 1,4-diradicals [71]. 

In a later article, complexes of Ni(II), Cu(II), Pd(II), and V02+ ions with the same tetra-substituted porphyrin were reported. Stepwise oxidation of these complexes gave products for which the authors proposed quinonoid, monoradical, and diradical structures. The most prolonged oxidations yielded the diradical products, which were isolated as dark purple crystals, relatively stable in air (40). The monoradical vanadyl complex was observed to be diamagnetic, suggesting antiferromagnetic coupling between the phenoxyl radical and unpaired electron on vanadium, whereas in the copper complex no such coupling was observed. More detailed studies of these systems seem warranted. 

Expansion and contraction Shaping the porphyrin boundary via diradical reactivity 13CCR599. 

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