Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of high-spin nitrenes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Wolfram Sander
• Subject Area: Organic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation
• Term: from 2008 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 86403934

High-spin organic molecules are of fundamental interest for basic research with potential applications as building blocks for the synthesis of organic magnets. Due to their unpaired electrons these molecules are in general highly reactive and require kinetic stabilization either by using the matrix isolation technique or by using bulky substituents as “internal matrix”. Nitrenes are triplet molecules with large singlet-triplet splittings and very large zero-field splitting parameters in the EPR. Despite their high reactivity they can thus be regarded as ideal building blocks for the synthe-sis of magnetic model compounds. In a cooperation between the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Russian Academy of Sciences we therefore plan to systematically explore the spectroscopic and chemical properties of polynitrenes. A number of precursors will be synthesized and investi-gated by matrix isolation spectroscopy. The main spectroscopic tool will be EPR spectroscopy, but IR and UV-vis spectroscopy as well as state of the art ab-initio and DFT calculations will also be used. By combining the expertise from the two labo-ratories we are confident to be able to synthesize and characterize these elusive reac-tive intermediates and gain detailed insight into their electronic structure.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Russia
• Participating Person: Dr. Sergei Victorovich Chapyshev