Interaction of the tetradentate redox-active 6,6'-[1,2-phenylenebis(azanediyl)]bis(2,4-di-tert-butylphenol) (H4 L) with TeCl4 leads to neutral diamagnetic compound TeL (1) in high yield. The molecule of 1 has a nearly planar TeN2 O2 fragment, which suggests the formulation of 1 as TeII L2- , in agreement with the results of DFT calculations and QTAIM and NBO analyses. Reduction of 1 with one equivalent of [CoCp2 ] leads to quantitative formation of the paramagnetic salt [CoCp2 ]+ [1].- , which was characterised by single-crystal XRD. The solution EPR spectrum of [CoCp2 ]+ [1].- at room temperature features a quintet due to splitting on two equivalent 14 N nuclei. Below 150 K it turns into a broad singlet line with two weak satellites due to the splitting on the 125 Te nucleus. Two-component relativistic DFT calculations perfectly reproduce the a(14 N) HFI constants and A∥ (125 Te) value responsible for the low-temperature satellite splitting. Calculations predict that the additional electron in 1.- is localised mainly on L, while the spin density is delocalised over the whole molecule with significant localisation on the Te atom (≥30 %). All these data suggest that 1.- can be regarded as the first example of a structurally characterised monomeric tellurium-nitrogen radical anion.
Keywords: EPR spectroscopy; chelates; radical ions; relativistic density functional calculations; tellurium.
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