Studies of hyperfine splittings and spin distributions of the lowest excited triplet states of substituted benzenes and pyridines

Abstract

Hyperfine splittings and linewidths of the E.P.R. spectra of the lowest excited triplet states of several cyano-substituted benzenes, pyridines and 1,2,4,5-tetrachlorobenzene were studied, and spin distributions were estimated. These spin distributions as well as the zero field parameters were discussed in terms of the modified benzene π electron MO. It is shown that one excited configuration dominates in the studied systems, but a small amount of configuration mixing is necessary in order to explain ZFS. The experimentally determined spin densities were compared with those calculated from UHF methods in the case of benzonitrile and phenylacetylene. The calculated spin densities agree well with those estimated experimentally when proper choice of integral is made. It is also shown that the spin distributions in triplet state and radical anions are similar in the systems studied here. The geometries of the excited triplet states of substituted benzenes are also investigated from UHF calculation.