5-Aryl-2-(3,5-dialkyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-4,4-dimethyl-4H-imidazole 3-Oxides and Their Redox Species: How Antioxidant Activity of 1-Hydroxy-2,5-dihydro-1H-imidazoles Correlates with the Stability of Hybrid Phenoxyl–Nitroxides

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Cyclic nitrones of the imidazole series, containing a sterically hindered phenol group, are promising objects for studying antioxidant activity; on the other hand, they can form persistent hybrid phenoxyl–nitroxyl radicals (HPNs) upon oxidation. Here, a series of 5-aryl-4,4-dimethyl-4H-imidazole 3-oxides was obtained by condensation of aromatic 2-hydroxylaminoketones with 4-formyl-2,6-dialkylphenols followed by oxidation of the initially formed N-hydroxy derivatives. It was shown that the antioxidant activity of both 1-hydroxy-2,5-dihydroimidazoles and 4H-imidazole 3-oxides increases with a decrease in steric volume of the alkyl substituent in the phenol group, while the stability of the corresponding HPNs generated from 4H-imidazole 3-oxides reveals the opposite tendency.