Through-space donor–acceptor homoconjugation strategies for emissive radical species

Abstract

Open shell luminescent organic molecules have been gaining attention in recent years for their ability to access different excited state manifolds compared to their closed shell congeners. However, there has been little work to expand the design of these systems beyond direct conjugation strategies. Herein, we report the synthesis, and optical and magnetic characterization of two new triarylmethyl radical compounds that interact via a remote homoconjugation with a donor group through a [2.2.2] bridge. The properties of these bridged radicals are compared to those of a non-bridged species. This study ultimately expands the design strategies for synthesizing emissive radical species.