Ring strain effects. IV. An electron spin resonance study of the radical anions of a series of strained naphthalene hydrocarbons

Electron paramagnetic resonance studies have been carried out on a series of substituted naphthalene radical anions. The series was composed of compounds having varying amounts of ring strain in a fused ring in the b position. The large spin density perturbations were correlated within the Hückel framework using the FinneganStreitwieser model. INDO calculations were also carried out on these molecules and the results are discussed.