Halo‐Substituted Blatter Radicals and Their Role in Modulating Magnetic Interaction in Metal Complexes: A Combined Experimental and Theoretical Study.

Herein, we report the synthesis, structure, and magnetic properties of three new halo‐substituted benzotriazinyl radicals (Rad3a‐3c where a=Cl, b=Br, c=I) and two metal complexes [M(hfac)2(Rad3c)⋅CHCl3](M=Cu(II) (1), Zn(II) (2) and hfac: hexafluoroacetylacetonate) as representative examples. Structural analyses disclose that all the radicals are isostructural. Compared to the reported benzotriazinyl radicals, the N4 atom of pyridine flips opposite to the spin bearing (N1) centre, and it is stabilized by secondary C−H⋅⋅⋅N interaction. The π⋅⋅⋅π stacking interaction between the spin bearing centre and pyridyl ring decreases as the size of the halogen increases from ‐Cl to ‐I. The stacking distance is substantially longer than the other coordinating benzotriazinyl radicals reported so far. The dc magnetic studies reveal the presence of strong intermolecular antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between the radical dimers, which decreases in the order of Rad3a→Rad3b→Rad3c. Complex 1 shows a strong intramolecular through‐bond metal‐radical ferromagnetic interaction, whereas a weak intermolecular through‐space radical⋅⋅⋅radical antiferromagnetic exchange interaction is observed in complex 2. Furthermore, the broken symmetry (BS)‐DFT calculations were performed to get more insight into the exchange interaction for all the radicals and metal complexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]