ESR study of molecular orientation and dynamics of TEMPO derivatives in CLPOT 1D nanochannels.

The molecular orientations and dynamics of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxyl (TEMPO) radical derivatives with large substituent groups at the 4-position (4-X-TEMPO) in the organic one-dimensional nanochannels within the nanosized molecular template 2,4,6-tris(4-chlorophenoxy)-1,3,5-triazine (CLPOT) were examined using ESR. The concentrations of guest radicals, including 4-methoxy-TEMPO (MeO-TEMPO) or 4-oxo-TEMPO (TEMPONE), in the CLPOT nanochannels in each inclusion compound (IC) were reduced by co-including 4-substituted-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine (4-R-TEMP) compounds at a ratio of 1:30-1:600. At higher temperatures, the guest radicals in each IC underwent anisotropic rotational diffusion in the CLPOT nanochannels. The rotational diffusion activation energy, E-a, associated with MeO-TEMPO or TEMPONE in the CLPOT nanochannels (6-7kJmol(-1)), was independent of the size and type of substituent group and was similar to the E-a values obtained for TEMPO and 4- hydroxy-TEMPO (TEMPOL) in our previous study. However, in the case in which TEMP was used as a guest compound for dilution (spacer), the tilt of the rotational axis to the principal axis system of the g-tensor, and the rotational diffusion correlation time, (R), of each guest radical in the CLPOT nanochannels were different from the case with other 4-R-TEMP. These results indicate the possibility of controlling molecular orientation and dynamics of guest radicals in CLPOT ICs through the appropriate choice of spacer. Copyright (c) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.