In
the present work, the study of the unusual interaction between
copper hexafluoroacetylacetonate and the diacetyliminoxyl radical
resulted in two discoveries from different fields: the determination
of the oxime radical spatial structure and the introduction of an
oxime radical into the field of molecular magnetic material design.
Oxime radicals are key plausible intermediates in the processes of
oxidative CH-functionalization and in the synthesis of functionalized
isoxazolines from oximes. Due to the lack of X-ray diffraction data
for oxime radicals, the knowledge about their structure is based mainly
on indirect approaches, spectroscopic methods (electron paramagnetic
resonance and IR), and quantum chemical calculations. The structure
of the oxime radical was determined for the first time by stabilizing
the diacetyliminoxyl radical in the form of its complex with copper
(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate (Cu(hfac)2), followed by
single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Although oxime radicals
are known to undergo oxidative coupling with acetylacetonate ligands
in transition-metal complexes, a complex is formed with intact hfac
ligands. X-ray diffraction studies have shown that the oxime radical
is coordinated with copper ions through the oxygen atoms of the carbonyl
groups without the direct involvement of the CN–O• radical moiety. The structure of the coordinated diacetyliminoxyl
is in good agreement with the density functional theory (DFT) prediction
for free diacetyliminoxyl due to the very weak interaction of the
radical molecule with copper ions. Remarkably, both weak ferromagnetic
and antiferromagnetic interactions between Cu (II) and oxime radicals
have been revealed by modeling the temperature dependence of magnetic
susceptibility and confirmed by DFT calculations, rendering diacetyliminoxyl
a promising building block for the design of molecular magnets.