Fluorinated nitroxides as ESR probes of solvation

Some newly synthesized fluorinated nitroxides, such as t-butyl perfluoroalkyl nitroxides ButN(O) Rf (Rf=CF3, 5; C2F5, 6; n-C3F7, 7) and s-butyl perfluoroacyl nitroxides BusN(O) CORf (Rf=CF3, 9; n-C3F7, 10) have been employed as ESR probes of solvation in different common organic solvents. In aprotic solvents, the measured aN values for each of the nitroxyl probes show a linear correlation with the cybotactic polar solvent parameters ET (Dimroth) and Z (Kosowar), i.e. aN=bET+c, and aN=b′Z+c′. The physical significance for the slope (b or b′), the slope×ET or slope×Z, the extrapolated intercept on aN axis, c or c′, are linked, respectively, to the sensitivity of a specific nitroxide toward solvation, the magnitude of the overall solvation effect on the aN value, and the intrinsic aN value of each nitroxide in the ideal gaseous state. The intercept on the aN axis may also serve as a new measure of electronegativity for perfluoroalkyl groups, CF3, C2F5, n-C3F7, and perfluoroacyl groups, CF3CO, n-C3F7CO. In protic solvents, i.e. alcohols and carboxylic acids, however, aN values of all the probes, kept almost no change with the increase in ET and Z. Furthermore, the plots of aN versus non-cybotactic solvent constants, such as dipolar moment (μ) and dielectric constant (ε), all show random variations.