Intramolecular Spin Exchange in Flexible PEG-based Nitroxide Biradicals in Aqueous Solutions

Intramolecular spin exchange in four flexible PEG-based bis-nitroxides was studied by X-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy as a function of temperature and solvent viscosity. A series of biradicals with different lengths of the ethylene glycol bridge connecting the two nitroxide groups was investigated in aqueous and mixed 1:1 i-propanol:water solutions. Conformational transitions in liquid solutions of the biradicals were analyzed, and thermodynamic parameters of the conformational reorganization were calculated from the EPR spectra. Intramolecular distances r between paramagnetic > N-O-aEuro cent fragments in biradicals in frozen solutions were calculated and compared with dynamic properties of the biradicals.