Photochemical stability of nitroxyl derivatives

Abstract

Different classes of compounds with imidazoline radicals were studied by EPR spectroscopy. The effects of light and atmospheric oxygen on the stability of these compounds in alcoholic solutions were investigated. The study of the photochemical stability of rhodium complexes with imidazoline radicals in oxygen-containing and oxygen-free media demonstrated that the photolysis of these compounds in the absence of oxygen causes the disappearance of paramagnetism. The reaction is reversible, and the observed effects are due to the formation of hydroxylamine groups via the interaction between excited nitroxyl radicals and the solvent in the absence of oxygen. When present in this system, oxygen deexcites the nitroxyl groups. A similar effect of oxygen is observed for nitroxyl derivatives of the fullerenes C60 and C70. A quite different photolytic behavior is shown by copper complexes with bidentately bonded nitroxyl radicals. These compounds are stable to photolysis in both oxygen-containing and oxygen-free media. It was demonstrated using phenyl-tert-butylnitrone (PBN) as the spin trap that photolysis in the absence of the trap results in the decomposition of the copper complex to copper metal. It is assumed that PBN incorporates into the complex at free coordination sites and competes with the copper ion in its reaction with the earlier formed radical of the ligand.