ESR Studies of Dibenzenesulfenamidyl Radicals

Dibenzenesulfenamidyl radicals (2) were generated by the oxidation of dibenzenesulfenamides (1), and their ESR and visible spectra were measured. The ESR spectra were split into a 1 : 1 : 1 triplet by the interaction with the nitrogen nucleus (aN=11.26–11.49 G); in some spectra, each of the triplet was further split by the interaction with the ring protons (ao−H=ap−H=0.48–0.70, am−H=0.18–0.22 G). The g-values lay in the range of 2.0080–2.0083. From the results, it was concluded that the unpaired electron is distributed mainly on the nitrogen and the two sulfur atoms. Kinetic studies of the decay of 2 indicated that 2 decays with second-order kinetics and is not sensitive to the atmospheric oxygen.