Frustrated Radical Pairs: Insights from EPR Spectroscopy

Progress in frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) chemistry has revealed the importance of the main group elements in catalysis, opening new avenues in synthetic chemistry. Recently, new reactivities of frustrated Lewis pairs have been uncovered that disclose that certain combinations of Lewis acids and bases undergo single-electron transfer (SET) processes. Here an electron can be transferred from the Lewis basic donor to a Lewis acidic acceptor to generate a reactive frustrated radical pair (FRP). This minireview aims to showcase the recent advancements in this emerging field covering the synthesis and reactivities of frustrated radical pairs, with extensive highlights of the results from Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to explain the nature and stability of the different radical species observed.

Automated summary

Progress in frustrated Lewis pair (FLP) chemistry has highlighted the significance of main group elements in catalysis, introducing novel approaches to synthetic chemistry. Recent studies have uncovered new reactivities of frustrated Lewis pairs involving single-electron transfer processes, leading to the formation of reactive frustrated radical pairs (FRP). Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has been employed to explain the nature and stability of the observed radical species.