Facile preparation and isolation of neutral organic electron donors based on 4-dimethylaminopyridine

A number of new neutral bis-2-(4-dimethylamino)pyridinylidene electron donors featuring N-akyl groups of varying lengths (propyl, butyl, hexyl, dodecyl) have been prepared from 4-dimethylaminopyridine by means of a simple two-step procedure. Each derivative could be isolated in high yield and could be stored indefinitely under inert atmosphere. The electron donors were chemically oxidized to the corresponding bipyridinium ions, and all compounds were characterized by NMR spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. As an emerging class of electron transfer agents, the availability of the isolated neutral bispyridinylidenes should be beneficial for cases that are incompatible with generating the electron donor in situ.