Cyclic conjugation

The pattern of orbital energies is different for benzene than it would be if the six tt electrons were confined to three noninteracting double bonds The delocalization provided by cyclic conjugation in benzene causes its tt electrons to be held more strongly than they would be in the absence of cyclic conjugation Stronger binding of its tt electrons is the factor most responsible for the special stability—the aromaticity—of benzene... 

Thus cyclobutadiene like cyclooctatetraene is not aromatic More than this cyclo butadiene is even less stable than its Lewis structure would suggest It belongs to a class of compounds called antiaromatic An antiaromatic compound is one that is destabi lized by cyclic conjugation... 

Cyclic conjugation although necessary for aromaticity is not sufficient for it Some other factor or factors must contribute to the special stability of benzene and compounds based on the benzene ring To understand these factors let s return to the molecular orbital description of benzene... 

Cycloheptatriene lacks cyclic conjugation interrupted by CH2 group... 

Frosts circle (Section 11 19) A mnemonic that gives the Huckel TT MOs for cyclic conjugated molecules and 10ns Functional class nomenclature (Section 4 2) Type of lUPAC nomenclature in which compounds are named according to functional group families The last word in the name... 

Molecular orbital calculations predict that oxirane forms the cyclic conjugate acid (39), which is 30 kJ moF stabler than the open carbocation (40) and must surmount a barrier of 105kJmoF to isomerize to (40) (78MI50500). The proton affinity of oxirane was calculated (78JA1398) to be 807 kJ mol (cf. the experimental values of 773 kJ moF for oxirane and 777-823 kJ moF for dimethyl ether (80MI50503)). The basicity of cyclic ethers is discussed in (B-67MI50504). 

Monocyclic conjugated polyenes are referred to as annulenes, and there exists ample experimental evidence to support the conclusions based on application of HMO theory to neutral and charged annulenes. The relationship between stability and structure in cyclic conjugated systems will be explored more fully in Chapter 9. 

Although the Hiickel method has now been supplanted by more complete treatments for theoretical analysis of organic reactions, the pictures of the n orbitals of both linear and cyclic conjugated polyene systems that it provides are correct as to symmetry and the relative energy of the orbitals. In many reactions where the n system is the primary site of reactivity, these orbitals correctly describe the behavior of the systems. For that reason, the reader should develop a familiarity with the qualitative description of the n orbitals of typical linear polyenes and conjugated cyclic hydrocarbons. These orbitals will be the basis for further discussion in Chapters 9 and 11. 

The tropylium and the cyclopropenyl cations are stabilized aromatic systems. These ions are arumatic according to Hiickel s rule, with the cyclopropeniiun ion having two n electrons and the tropyliiun ion six (see Section 9.3). Both ring systems are planar and possess cyclic conjugation, as is required for aromaticity. 

The pattern of experimental results on charged species with cyclic conjugated systems is summarized in Table 9.1. It is consistent with the applicability of HiickeTs rule to charged, as well as neutral, conjugated planar cyclic structures. 

Homoaromaticity is a term used to describe systems in which a stabilized cyclic conjugated system is formed by bypassing one saturated atom. The resulting stabilization would, in general, be expected to be reduced because of poorer overlap of the orbitals. The properties of several such cationic species, however, suggest that substantial stabilization does exist. The cyclooctatrienyl cation is an example ... 

Derive the tc-MO patterns for these three molecules by treating them as derivatives of the three-, five-, and seven-membered cyclic conjugated systems. Explain the relationship between the derived MO pattern and the observed properties and stabilities of the molecules. 

In order for a substitution to occur, a n-complex must be formed. The term a-complex is used to describe an intermediate in which the carbon at the site of substitution is bonded to both the electrophile and the hydrogen that is displaced. As the term implies, a a bond is formed at the site of substitution. The intermediate is a cyclohexadienyl cation. Its fundamental structural characteristics can be described in simple MO terms. The a-complex is a four-7t-electron delocalized system that is electronically equivalent to a pentadienyl cation (Fig. 10.1). There is no longer cyclic conjugation. The LUMO has nodes at C-2 and C-4 of the pentadienyl structure, and these positions correspond to the positions meta to the site of substitution on the aromatic ring. As a result, the positive chargex)f the cation is located at the positions ortho and para to the site of substitution. 

Section 11.18 Although cyclic conjugation is a necessary requirement for aromaticity, this alone is not sufficient. If it were, cyclobutadiene and cycloocta-tetraene would be aromatic. They are not. 

Frost s circle (Section 11.19) A mnemonic that gives the Hiickel -tr MOs for cyclic conjugated molecules and ions. 

Porphyrin systems therefore obey Hiickel s rule in having An + 2 n = A) TT-electrons in a planar, cyclic, conjugated array. Both major tautomeric forms have delocalization pathways with opposite N-Hs (trails tautomers), as shown in 71a 71b. It is already known (76AHCS1) that tautomers with inner hydrogens adjacent (cis tautomers) are much less stable, playing an important role only in the mechanism of proton transfer in porphyrins and phthalocyanines. 

Although benzene is clearly unsaturatcd, it is much more stable than typical alkenes and fails to undergo the usual alkene reactions. Cyclohexene, for instance, reacts rapidly with Br2 and gives the addition product 1,2-dibromo-cyclohexane, but benzene reacts only slowly with Br2 and gives the substitution product CgH Br. As a result of this substitution, the cyclic conjugation of the benzene ring is retained. 

Chemists in the early 1900s believed that the only requirement for aromaticity was the presence of a cyclic conjugated system. It was therefore expected that cyclooctatetraene,. as a close analog of benzene, would also prove to be unusually stable. The facts, however, proved otherwise. When cyclooctatetraene was first prepared in 1911 by the German chemist Richard Willstatter, it was found not to be particularly stable but to resemble an open-chain polyene in its reactivity. 

Problem 15.5 To be aromatic, a molecule must have 4n + 2 tt electrons and must have cyclic conjugation. 1,3,5.7,9-Cyclodecapcntaene fulfills one of these criteria but not the other and has resisted all attempts at synthesis. Explain. 

According to the Hiickel criteria for aromaticity, a molecule must be cyclic, conjugated (that is, be nearly planar and have ap orbital on each carbon) and have 4n + 2 tt electrons. Nothing in this definition says that the number of p orbitals and the number of nr elections in those orbitals must be the same. In fact, they can he different. The 4n + 2 rule is broadly applicable to many kinds of molecules and ions, not just to neutral hydrocarbons. For example, both the cydopentadienyl anion and the cycloheptatrienyl cation are aromatic. 

Active Figure 15.5 An orbital view of the aromatic cyclopenta-dienyl anion, showing the cyclic conjugation and six tt electrons in five p orbitals. The electrostatic potential map further indicates that the ion is symmetrical and that all five carbons are electron-rich (red). Sign in at www.thomsonedu.com to see a simulation based on this figure and to take a short quiz. 

Recall the requirements fox aromaticity—a planar, cyclic, conjugated molecule with 4n + 2 7r electrons—and see how these requirements apply to thiophene. 

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