Radical Cation Salts - A New Family of Organic Metals

Abstract
Stable radical cations of arenes can be generated by anodic oxidation and can be separated at the anode in the presence of suitable anions as radical cation salts [ary12]X in the form of shiny black crystals. Crystal structures and phase transitions in fluoranthenyl radical cation salts, a new family of organic conductors, are reported. The metal to semiconductor transition which is observed seems to be related to a distortion of the stacks of aromatic molecules perpendicular to the stacking direction.