“Upper” Ring Expansion of the Planar Blatter Radical via Photocyclization: Limitations and Impact on the Electronic Structure

Photocyclization of 8-aryloxybenzo­[e]­[1,2,4]­triazines leads to the formation of π-expanded flat Blatter radicals for three phenanthryloxy and pyren-1-yloxy derivatives, whereas no photoreaction is observed for the perylen-3-yloxy precursor. Two of the new radicals are nonplanar, out of which one is unstable to isolation. The radical with the fused pyrene ring constitutes the largest thus far paramagnetic polycyclic π-system containing seven fused rings with 27 sp2-hybridized atoms and 29 π-delocalized electrons. The investigation of the reaction conditions demonstrated the higher efficiency of photoformation of the parent radical in polar solvents, which suggests a polar transition state and the S1 photoreactive state. The effect of π expansion on the electronic structure was investigated with spectroscopic (UV–vis, electron paramagnetic resonance) and electrochemical methods augmented with density functional theory computational studies. The molecular structure of one of the radicals was determined with a single-crystal X-ray diffraction method.