A series of nitronyl nitroxide (NN) diradicals with linear conjugated couplers and another series with aromatic couplers have been investigated by the broken-symmetry (BS) DFT approach. The overlap integral between the magnetically active orbitals in the BS state has been explicitly computed and used for the evaluation of the magnetic exchange coupling constant (J). The calculated J values are in very good agreement with the observed values in the literature. The magnitude of J depends on the length of the coupler as well as the conformation of the radical units. The aromaticity of the spacer decreases the strength of the exchange coupling constant. The SOMO-SOMO energy splitting analysis, where SOMO stands for the singly occupied molecular orbital, and the calculation of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) parameters have also been carried out. The computed hyperfine coupling constants support the intramolecular magnetic interactions. The nature of magnetic exchange coupling constant can also be predicted from the shape of the SOMOs as well as the spin alternation rule in the unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) treatment. It is found that pi-conjugation along with the spin-polarization plays the major role in controlling the magnitude and sign of the coupling constant.

We judge the energetic sequence of spin states in substituted methylenes by ab initio multiconfigurational computations and, where feasible, density functional modeling techniques. The best of these calculations reproduce well-established singlet−triplet gaps in X−C−Y species, in which X can be phenyl and Y can be H, methyl, or chloro. Similar computations on p-phenylene-coupled Y−methylenes and meta-coupled Y−methylenes support the suggestion by Zuev and Sheridan that bis(chloromethylene)-p-phenylene has a singlet diradical ground state. However, despite the density functional computations' support for those authors' suggestion that bis(chloromethylene)-m-phenylene has a singlet ground state, we find that our best MCSCF calculations place the quintet ground state suggested by the simplest theory almost equal in energy to that singlet.

rnWe describe by approximate MO calculation a number of species for which high spin states are either the ground state or lie very low in energy. These are models for the spin coupling in projected ferromagnetic organic materials. The theory guiding their construction is based on planar conjugated systems, while experimentally realized systems are often far from planarity. We can by appeal to steric decoupling explain the failure of the prediction that methoxy subsitution on metaphenylene-coupled nitroxides should stabilize the triplet. However, we find in general that the qualitative rules derived from discussion of planar systems are robust; drastic departures from planarity are required before they lose their value. 0 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. netic (i.e., spin-aligning) coupling between sites. A number of simple theoretical methods and principles have helped to guide and rationalize experimental design. These include the Huckel analysis of Longuet-Higgins [2] and the valence-bond treatment of Ovchinnikov [3], which permit the prediction of possible high-spin states in planar conjugated hydrocarbon species. The topology of rr systems is the foundation of all these analyses, and lntroduction he possibility of producing ferrmagnetic or-T ganic materials has attracted great interest [l]. The preparation of these materials requires sites with high local spin densities and ferromag-

We predict the intramolecular magnetic exchange coupling constant (J) for eleven nitronyl nitroxide diradicals (NN) with different linear and angular polyacene couplers from broken-symmetry density functional treatment. For the linear acene couplers, J initially decreases with increase in the number of fused rings. But from anthracene coupler onward, the J value increases with the number of benzenoid rings due to an increasing diradical character of the coupler moiety. The J value for the diradical with a fused bent coupler is always found to be smaller than that for a diradical with a linear coupler of the same size. The nuclear independent chemical shift (NICS) is calculated, and it is observed that the average of the NICS values per benzenoid ring in the diradical is less than that in the normal polyacene molecule. An empirical formula for the magnetic exchange coupling constant of a NN diradical with an aromatic spacer is obtained by combining the Wiberg bond order (BO), the angle of twist (phi) of the monoradical (NN) plane from the plane of the coupler, and the NICS values. A comparison of the formula with the computed values reveals that, from tetracene onward, the diradical nature of the linear acene couplers becomes prominent thereby leading to an increase in the ferromagnetic coupling constant. Isotropic hyperfine coupling constants are calculated by using a polarized continuum model for the diradicals in different solvents and in vacuum.

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We predict extremely large and positive intramolecular magnetic exchange coupling constants (J) for coupled diradicals constructed from nitronyl nitroxide (NN) and oxoverdazyl (o-VER). These radicals have the general formula o-VER(N)-nC-NN where nC represents an olefinic spacer with n = 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8. Species like o-VER(C)-nC-NN have negative coupling constants. The atoms in the parentheses show the point of attachment of the coupler to the verdazyl moiety. Both the N-linked series and C-linked series have comparable stability. The triplet molecular geometries were optimized by the density functional (UB3LYP) method using the 6-311 g(d,p) basis set. This was followed by single-point UB3LYP calculations using 6-311++g(3df,3pd) basis. To calculate J, single-point broken-symmetry computations were performed on the optimized triplet geometries and using the same basis set. The N-linked diradicals coupled through conjugated polyenes are topologically different. These are found to have coupling constants of the order of 1000 cm(-1), whereas the C-linked diradicals show coupling constants of the order of -100 cm(-1). In general, for both cases, the absolute magnitude of the coupling constant decreases with the increase in the length of the spacer.

Meta-benzoquinodimethane (MBQDM) or m-xylylene provides a model for larger organic diradicals, the triplet-singlet gap being the key property. In the present work this energy difference has been the object of a systematic study by means of several density functional theory-based methods including B3LYP, M06, M06-2X, HSE and LC-ωPBE potentials and a variety of wave function-based methods such as complete active space self consistent field (CASSCF), Multireference second-order Møller-Plesset (MRMP), difference dedicated configuration interaction (DDCI), and Multireference configuration interaction (MRCI). In each case various basis sets of increasing quality have been explored, and the effect of the molecular geometry is also analyzed. The use of the triplet and broken symmetry (BS) solutions for the corresponding optimized geometries obtained from B3LYP and especially M06-2X functionals provide the value of the adiabatic triplet-singlet gap closer to experiment when compared to the reported value of Wenthold, Kim, and Lineberger, (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1997, 119, 1354) and also for the electron affinity. The agreement further improves using the full π-valence CASSCF(8,8) optimized geometry as an attempt to correct for the spin contamination effects on the geometry of the BS state. The CASSCF, MRMP, and MRCI, even with the full π valence CAS(8,8) as reference and relatively large basis set, systematically overestimate the experimental value indicating either that an accurate description must go beyond this level of theory, including σ electrons and higher order polarization functions, or perhaps that the measured value is affected by the experimental conditions.

We have investigated the magnetic properties of four recently synthesized stable TMM-type nitroxide diradicals. Four new diradicals are proposed by tailoring one of the species in such a way that both conjugation and planarity increase. As a remarkable consequence, the intramolecular ferromagnetic exchange interaction was found to be quite high in the proposed radicals. The calculated coupling constants were in the range of +102 to +140 cm-1. The MO and spin density analysis are provided to interpret the exchange interactions. We observed the existence of intramolecular pi-pi-interactions for the species 2. This slightly increased the J value by shortening the length of the spacer between the two spin sources.