Synthesis of neutral spin-delocalized electron acceptors for multifunctional materials.

A new synthetic route to stable spin-delocalized radicals, annelated nitronyl nitroxides, has been developed on the basis of the condensation of benzofuroxan with aryl nitrones. The electronic structure of the resulting radicals was investigated through absorption spectroscopy, EPR, electrochemistry, and computation (DFT-UB3LYP). The annelated radicals exhibit electronic transitions in the near IR (850-900 nm) and are excellent electron acceptors (E(red) approximately 0.0 vs SCE) ideal for the development of multifunctional magnetic materials.