An ESR study of the aziridine and azetidine radical cations: evidence for the C...C ring-opened aziridine radical cation

Abstract

The radical cations from aziridine and azetidine have been characterized by ESR spectroscopy following their generation in the solid state by ..gamma.. irradiation of dilute solutions of the parent compounds in the CFCl/sub 3/ matrix at 77 K. The ESR parameters of the azetidine radical cation are typical of those for nitrogen-centered amine radical cations such as Me/sub 2/NH*/sup +/. On the other hand, the radical cation formed from aziridine has very different ESR parameters that compare closely to those for the isoelectronic C...C ring-opened form of the oxirane radical cation and the allyl radical. The radical cation formed from azetidine is therefore assigned a ring-closed structure with the unpaired electron in a 2p/sub z/ orbital on nitrogen perpendicular to the ring plane, whereas the cation from aziridine is an allylic C...C ring-opened planar isomer with the unpaired electron in a nonbonding ..pi.. orbital centered mainly on the two end carbon atoms. The neutral 1-aziridinyl and 1-azetidinyl radicals have been detected as radical products following the ..gamma.. irradiation of the parent compounds in the CFCl/sub 2/CF/sub 2/Cl and CF/sub 3/CCl/sub 3/ matrices. In particular, the 1-azetidinyl radical is produced cleanly from the azetidine radical cation in the CFCl/sub 2/CF/sub 2/Clmore » matrix at ca. 100 K.« less