Diphenoquinones Redux

Benzoquinones can undergo reversible reductions and are attractive candidates for use as active materials in green carbon-based batteries. Related compounds of potential utility include 4,4′-diphenoquinones, which have extended quinonoid structures with two carbonyl groups in different rings. Diphenoquinones are a poorly explored class of compounds, but a wide variety can be synthesized, isolated, crystallized, and fully characterized. Experimental and computational approaches have established that typical 4,4′-diphenoquinones have nearly planar cores in which two cyclohexadienone rings are joined by an unusually long interannular C═C bond. Derivatives unsubstituted at the 3,3′,5,5′-positions react readily by hydration, dimerization, and other processes. Association of diphenoquinones in the solid state normally produces chains or sheets held together by multiple C–H···O interactions, giving structures that differ markedly from those of the corresponding 4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyls. Electrochemical studies in solution and in the solid state show that diphenoquinones are reduced rapidly and reversibly at potentials higher than those of analogous benzoquinones. Together, these results help bring diphenoquinones into the mainstream of modern chemistry and provide a foundation for developing redox-active derivatives for use in carbon-based electrochemical devices.