Breathing some new life into an old topic: chalcogen-nitrogen π-heterocycles as electron acceptors.

Recent progress in the design, synthesis and characterization of chalcogen-nitrogen π-heterocycles, mostly 1,2,5-chalcogenadiazoles (chalcogen: S, Se and Te) and their fused derivatives, possessing positive electron affinity is discussed together with their use in preparation of charge-transfer complexes and radical-anion salts-candidate building blocks of molecule-based electrical and magnetic functional materials.

Interaction of 1,2,5-chalcogenadiazole derivatives with thiophenolate: hypercoordination with formation of interchalcogen bond versus reduction to radical anion.

According to the DFT calculations, [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (4), [1,2,5]selenadiazolo[3,4-c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (5), 3,4-dicyano-1,2,5-thiadiazole (6), and 3,4-dicyano-1,2,5-selenadiazole (7) have nearly the same positive electron affinity (EA). Under the CV conditions they readily produce long-lived π-delocalized radical anions (π-RAs) characterized by EPR. Whereas 4 and 5 were chemically reduced into the π-RAs with thiophenolate (PhS(-)), 6 did not react and 7 formed a product of hypercoordination at the Se center (9) isolated in the form of the thermally stable salt [K(18-crown-6)][9] (10).

Heterospin pi-heterocyclic radical-anion salt: synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties of decamethylchromocenium [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-c][1,2,5]thiadiazolidyl.

Decamethylchromocene, Cr(II)(eta(5)-C(5)(CH(3))(5))(2) (2), readily reduced [1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-c][1,2,5]thiadiazole (1) in a tetrahydrofuran solvent at ambient temperature with the formation of radical-anion salt [2](+)[1](-) (3) isolated in 97% yield. The heterospin salt 3 ([2](+), S = 3/2; [1](-), S = 1/2) was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction as well as magnetic susceptibility measurements in the temperature range 2-300 K. The experimental data together with theoretical analysis of the salt's magnetic structure within the CASSCF and spin-unrestricted broken-symmetry (BS) density functional theory (DFT) approaches revealed antiferromagnetic (AF) interactions in the crystalline 3: significant between anions [1](-), weak between cations [2](+), and very weak between [1](-) and [2](+).