Series of Fluorinated Benzimidazole-Substituted Nitronyl Nitroxides: Synthesis, Structure, Acidity, Redox Properties, and Magnetostructural Correlations

A special series of nitronyl nitroxides was synthesized: 2-(benzimidazol-2'-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole-3-oxide-1-oxyls mono-, di-, tri-, or tetrafluorinated on the benzene ring. The structure of all paramagnets was unambiguously confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. It was found that in crystals, the radicals are assembled into chains due to intermolecular H-bonds between the benzimidazole moiety (H-bond donor) and the nitronyl nitroxide group or benzimidazole ring (H-bond acceptor). The magnetic properties of nitronyl nitroxides depend on the type of binding of radicals by H-bonds. The magnetic motif of 4-fluoro-, 5-fluoro-, 4,6-difluoro-, 4,5,6-trifluoro-, 4,5,7-trifluoro-, and 4,5,6,7-tetrafluoro-derivatives, as well as the nonfluorinated compound, consists of ferromagnetic chains (J/kB ≈ 20-40 K) formed by the McConnell type I mechanism. In the 5,6-difluoro- and 4,5-difluoro-derivatives, the distances between the paramagnetic centers are large, as a result of which the exchange interactions are weak. According to cyclic voltammetry, paramagnets are oxidized reversibly, while their reduction is a quasi-reversible electron transfer (EC mechanism); experimental redox potentials of radicals correlate well with the calculated values. Quantum chemical assessment of the acidity of benzimidazolyl-substituted nitronyl nitroxides revealed that the introduction of fluorine atoms into the benzene ring enhances the acidity of the paramagnets by more than 5 orders of magnitude.