Crystal analysis by A. Chandrasekaran for Paul Serwinski.

This molecule was first synthesized by Burak Esat using 3-azidobenzaldehyde synthsized by Richard Walton.   It acts as a photochemical precursor to a quartet state molecule that allows interaction of the spins on a nitrenophenyl ring with a nitronylnitroxide.  The preliminary electron spin resonance spectroscopic results of the photochemistry were published in Paul M. Lahti, Burak Esat, Yi Liao, Paul Serwinski, Jiang Lan, Richard Walton, Polyhedron, 20, 1647-1652 (2001).  The synthesis was greatly improved by Paul Serwinski.  During crystal analysis of Serwinski's sample, A. Chandrasekaran of the UMass-Amherst X-ray Crystallographic Center discovered that this molecule can form two allotropes, the more readily formed a-phase (which looks dark blue, and has a P2₁2₁2₁ space group), and a b-phase (which looks green, and has a P2₁/C space group).  The structural parameters clearly show that the b -phase has been fully oxidized, so the color change is presumably due to the change in packing. The main difference in the molecules is in the conformation of the azido group.

Tested on a Windows-based Pentium PC using Netscape version 4.7 with the Chime 2.6 (service pack 3) plugin installed.

Tested on a Windows-based Pentium PC using Internet Explorer version 6 with the Chime 2.6 (service pack 3) plugin installed.