An N‐Heterocyclic‐Carbene‐Derived Distonic Radical Cation

Autor: Shuting Feng, Nolan M. Gallagher, Troy Van Voorhis, Jeremiah A. Johnson, Yun Guang Zhu, Hong-Zhou Ye, Yang Shao-Horn, Jeffrey Lopez
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 59:3952-3955
ISSN: 1521-3773
1433-7851
DOI: 10.1002/anie.201915534
Popis: We present the discovery of a novel radical cation formed through one-electron oxidation of an N-heterocyclic carbene-carbodiimide (NHC-CDI) zwitterionic adduct. This compound possesses a distonic electronic structure (spatially separate spin and charge regions) and displays persistence under ambient conditions. We demonstrate its application in a redox-flow battery exhibiting minimal voltage hysteresis, a flat voltage plateau, high Coulombic efficiency, and no performance decay for at least 100 cycles. The chemical tunability of NHCs and CDIs suggests that this approach could provide a general entry to redox-active NHC-CDI adducts and their persistent radical ions for various applications.
Databáze: OpenAIRE