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An Accurate Molecular Structure of Phenyl, the Simplest Aryl Radical
Author(s) -
Martinez Oscar,
Crabtree Kyle N.,
Gottlieb Carl A.,
Stanton John F.,
McCarthy Michael C.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201409896
Subject(s) - chemistry , aryl , molecule , ring (chemistry) , benzene , spectroscopy , radical , computational chemistry , organic chemistry , physics , alkyl , quantum mechanics
The phenyl radical (C 6 H 5 . ) is the prototypical σ‐type aryl radical and one of the most common aromatic building blocks for larger ring molecules. Using a combination of rotational spectroscopy of singly substituted isotopic species and vibrational corrections calculated theoretically, an extremely accurate molecular structure has been determined. Relative to benzene, the phenyl radical has a substantially larger C‐C ipso ‐C bond angle [125.8(3)° vs. 120°], and a shorter distance [2.713(3) Å vs. 2.783(2) Å] between the ipso and para carbon atoms.