The radical anions of silyl-substituted pyrenes and silyl-bridged dipyrenes

This Letter focuses on electron transfer studies in the ground state or radical anions of bridged pyrenes linked by dimethylsilylenes and saturated alkyl spacers. The silyl spacers are believed to support electron transfer through low-lying d σ∗ orbitals. The silyl spacers were found to be surprisingly unstable upon charging, leading finally, after SiSi and then CSi bond cleavage, to reprotonated pyrene anion and silyl radicals.