Heterospin biradicals based on new piperidineoxyl-substituted 3,6-di-tert-butyl-o-benzoquinone

A nucleophilic addition reaction of 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (OH-TEMPO) to 3,6-di- tert -butyl- o -benzoquinone was used to obtain a new sterically hindered o -benzoquinone ( 1 ) containing 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidineoxyl functional group, which was characterized by IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analysis, and X-ray diffraction. A one-electron reduction of 1 with potassium and thallium is an efficient method for the generation of earlier unknown heterospin biradicals 5a and 5b , respectively, containing nitroxide and o -semiquinone radical centers. Analysis of the hyperfine structure of the ESR spectra of biradicals 5a and 5b in solution showed that they belong to the group of heterospin biradicals with strong (J >> a ) and fast exchange interaction between the radical centers.