Chemistry:Diradical

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In chemistry, a diradical is a molecular species with two electrons occupying molecular orbitals (MOs) which are degenerate.[1][2] The term "diradical" is mainly used to describe organic compounds, where most diradicals are extremely reactive and non-Kekulé molecules that are rarely isolated. Diradicals are even-electron molecules but have one fewer bond than the number permitted by the octet rule.

Examples of diradical species can also be found in coordination chemistry, for example among bis(1,2-dithiolene) metal complexes.[3][4]

Spin states

Diradicals are usually triplets. The phrases singlet and triplet are derived from the multiplicity of states of diradicals in electron spin resonance: a singlet diradical has one state (S=0, Ms=2*0+1=1, ms=0) and exhibits no signal in EPR and a triplet diradical has 3 states (S=1, Ms=2*1+1=3, ms=-1; 0; 1) and shows in EPR 2 peaks (if no hyperfine splitting). The triplet state has total spin quantum number S=1 and is paramagnetic.[5] Therefore, diradical species display a triplet state when the two electrons are unpaired and display the same spin. When the unpaired electrons with opposite spin are antiferromagnetically coupled, diradical species can display a singlet state (S=0) and be diamagnetic.[6]

Examples

Stable, isolable, diradicals include singlet oxygen and triplet oxygen. Other important diradicals are certain carbenes, nitrenes, and their main-group elemental analogues.[7] Lesser-known diradicals are nitrenium ions, carbon chains,[8] and organic so-called non-Kekulé molecules in which the electrons reside on different carbon atoms. N-heterocyclic-carbene derived singlet diradicals have been used for solution-phase singlet fission via self-assembly.[9][10][11] Some isolable Kekulé diradicals are stable on air and room-temperature luminescent with large Stokes-shifts and solvatochromism.[12][13] Main-group cyclic structures can also exhibit diradicals, such as disulfur dinitride, or diradical character, such as diphosphadiboretanes. In inorganic chemistry, both homoleptic and heteroleptic 1,2-dithiolene complexes of d8 transition metal ions show a large degree of diradical character in the ground state.[3]

Diradicals in which the unpaired electrons nevertheless interact are sometimes referred to as diradicaloids.

References

  1. IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version:  (2006–) "Diradicals". doi:10.1351/goldbook.D01765
  2. "Diradicals". Chemical Reviews 113 (9): 7011–7088. September 2013. doi:10.1021/cr400056a. PMID 23883325. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Diradical Character of Neutral Heteroleptic Bis(1,2-dithiolene) Metal Complexes: Case Study of [Pd(Me2timdt)(mnt) (Me2timdt=1,3-Dimethyl-2,4,5-trithioxoimidazolidine; mnt2-=1,2-Dicyano-1,2-ethylenedithiolate)"]. Inorganic Chemistry 59 (23): 17385–17401. December 2020. doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c02696. PMID 33185438. 
  4. "Electronic structure of square planar bis(benzene-1,2-dithiolato)metal complexes [M(L)(2)](z) (z=2-, 1-, 0; M=Ni, Pd, Pt, Cu, Au): an experimental, density functional, and correlated ab initio study". Inorganic Chemistry 44 (15): 5345–5360. July 2005. doi:10.1021/ic0507565. PMID 16022533. 
  5. IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version:  (2006–) "Triplet State". doi:10.1351/goldbook.T06503
  6. "Theoretical evidence for the singlet diradical character of square planar nickel complexes containing two o-semiquinonato type ligands". Inorganic Chemistry 41 (16): 4179–4193. August 2002. doi:10.1021/ic0113101. PMID 12160406. 
  7. Sharma, Mahendra K.; Ebeler, Falk; Glodde, Timo; Neumann, Beate; Stammler, Hans-Georg; Ghadwal, Rajendra S. (2021-01-13). "Isolation of a Ge(I) Diradicaloid and Dihydrogen Splitting" (in en). Journal of the American Chemical Society 143 (1): 121–125. doi:10.1021/jacs.0c11828. ISSN 0002-7863. PMID 33373236. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.0c11828. 
  8. "Effect of Li Termination on the Electronic and Hydrogen Storage Properties of Linear Carbon Chains: A TAO-DFT Study". Scientific Reports 7 (1): 4966. July 2017. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-05202-6. PMID 28694445. Bibcode2017NatSR...7.4966S. 
  9. Ullrich, T.; Pinter, P.; Messelberger, J.; Haines, P.; Kaur, R.; Hansmann, M. M.; Munz, D.; Guldi, D. (2020). "Singlet Fission in Carbene Derived Diradicaloids". Angewandte Chemie International Edition 59: 7906. doi:10.1002/anie.202001286. 
  10. Messelberger, J.; Grünwald, A.; Pinter, P.; Hansmann, M.; Munz, D. (2018). "Carbene Derived Diradicaloids – Building Blocks for Singlet Fission?". Chemical Science 9: 6107. doi:10.1039/C8SC01999A. 
  11. Hansmann, M. M.; Melaimi, M.; Munz, D.; Bertrand, G. (2018). "Modular Approach to Kekulé Diradicaloids Derived from Cyclic (Alkyl)(amino)carbenes". Journal of the American Chemical Society 140: 2546. doi:10.1021/jacs.7b11183. 
  12. Bevilacqua, M.; Reato, M.; Cilento, F.; Graiff, C.; Antonello, S.; Schio, L.; Aliprandi, A.; Tubaro, C. et al. (2026). "Hidden Diradical: Conformational Switch for Solvatochromic NIR Emission with Unity Quantum Yield in Thiele's Hydrocarbon". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. doi:10.1002/anie.202524042. 
  13. Punzi, A.; Ullrich, T.; Orza, M.; Mesto, D.; Moliterni, A.; Olieric, V.; Engilberge, S.; Giannini, C. et al. (2026). "Twist and Shine: The Impact of Halogen Substitution on Thiele Hydrocarbon's Optical Properties". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. doi:10.1002/anie.202524043. 

Further reading