Electrocatalytic oxidative: Z/E isomerization of a stilbene favoured by the presence of an electroactive persistent radical

Abstract

A push-pull-functionalized stilbene has been prepared, with an electroactive perchlorotriphenylmethyl (PTM) radical and dimethylamine units as electron-withdrawing and-donating moieties, respectively, showing an electrocatalytic redox-induced Z → E isomerization where the open-shell nature of PTM plays a key role in the isomerization ocurrance. This journal is