Nitrogen analogues of Thiele's hydrocarbon.

A series of bis[N,N-di-(4-methoxylphenyl)amino]arene dications 1(2+) -3(2+) have been synthesized and characterized. Their electronic structures were investigated by various experiments assisted by theoretical calculations. It was found that they are singlets in the ground state and that their diradical character is dependent on the bridging moiety. 3(2+) has a smaller singlet-triplet energy gap and its excited triplet state is thermally readily accessible. The work provides a nitrogen analogue of Thiele's hydrocarbon with considerable diradical character.