An experimental and theoretical study of the substituent effects on the redox properties of 2-[(R-phenyl)amine]-1,4-naphthalenediones in acetonitrile

We synthesized and analyzed 19 compounds of 3'- (meta-) and 4'- (para-) substituted 2-[(R-phenyl)amine]-1,4-naphthalenediones (PANs) R = p-MeO, p-Me, p-Bu, p-Hex, p-Et, rn-Me, m-Et, H, p-Cl, p-Br, m-F, m-Cl, p-COCH3, m-CN, m-NO2, m-COOH, and p-COOH. Despite the fact that the nitrogen atom, which binds the quinone with the meta- and para-substituted ring, interferes with the direct conjugation between both rings, the UV-vis spectra of these compounds show the existence of an intramolecular electronic transfer from the respective aniline to the p-naphthoquinone Moiety. In accordance with this donor-acceptor character, the cyclic voltammograms of these compounds exhibit two, one-electron reduction waves corresponding to the formation of radical-anion and dianion, where the half-wave potential values vary linearly with the Hammett constants (sigma(x)). The analysis of the different voltammetric parameters (e.g., voltammetric function, anodic/cathodic peak currents ratio, and the separation between the anodic and cathodic potential peaks) show that with the exception of the carboxylic PAN derivatives, all compounds present the same reduction pathway. We investigated the molecular and electronic structures of these compounds using the semiempirical PM3 method and, within the framework of the Density Functional Theory, using the Becke 3LYP hybrid functional with a double zeta split valence basis set. Our theoretical calculations predict that, with the exception of the p-nitro compound, all the compounds are planar molecules where the conjugation degree of the nitrogen lone pair with the quinone system depends on the position and magnitude of the electronic effect of the substituent in the aniline ring. The Laplacians of the critical points (del(2)rho), for the C-O bonds, show that the first reduction wave corresponds to the carbonyl group in a-position to the aniline, and that the second one-electron transfer is due to the C-4-O-2 carbonyl reduction. Thus, the higher reaction constant value (rho) obtained for the second one-electron transfer is due to the fact that the displacement of the nonshared electrons of the amino nitrogen merely modifies the electron density of C-4-O-2 bond. The positive correlation between the LUMO energy values calculated for these compounds and the E-1/2 potentials corresponding to the C-1-O-1 carbonyl reduction show that the electron addition takes place at the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, supporting the fact that this wave is also prone to the substituent effect.