Switching between mono and doubly reduced odd alternant hydrocarbon: designing a redox catalyst.

Since the early Hückel molecular orbital (HMO) calculations in 1950, it has been well known that the odd alternant hydrocarbon (OAH), the phenalenyl (PLY) system, can exist in three redox states: closed shell cation (12π e), mono-reduced open shell neutral radical (13π e) and doubly reduced closed shell anion (14π e). Switching from one redox state of PLY to another leads to a slight structural change owing to its low energy of disproportionation making the electron addition or removal process facile. To date, mono-reduced PLY based radicals have been extensively studied.