Coulombic-enhanced hetero radical pairing interactions.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29773784.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-04335-0 and PMC identifier 5958055.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Spin-spin interactions between two identical aromatic radicals have been studied extensively and utilized to establish supramolecular recognition. Here we report that spin-pairing interactions could also take place between two different π-electron radicals, namely a bipyridinium radical cation (BPY<sup>+•</sup>) and a naphthalene-1,8:4,5-bis(dicarboximide) radical anion (NDI<sup>─•</sup>). The occurrence of this type of previously unreported hetero radical-pairing interactions is attributed to enhancement effect of Coulombic attraction between these two radicals bearing opposite charges. The Coulombic-enhanced hetero radical pairing interactions are employed to drive host-guest recognition, as well as the reversible switching of a bistable [2]rotaxane.