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5-Dehydro-1,3-quinodimethane: A hydrocarbon with an open-shell doublet ground state
Experimental and theoretical studies of the 5-dehydro-1,3-quinodimethane triradical are described. Theory predicts an open-shell doublet ground state, with three low-spin coupled electrons in three singly occupied molecular orbitals, which is unprecedented electronic structure for a ground state organic triradical. The bond dissociation enthalpy for formation of the triradical from meta-xylylene, which was measured using mass spectrometric methods, indicates an interaction of 1±4 kcal/mol between the unpaired electrons in the σ- and π-systems of the triradical. Download this paper (PDF, 167 kB) Related Research |