Naphthalenes canonical forms

In fused ring systems, the positions are not equivalent and there is usually a preferred orientation even in the unsubstituted hydrocarbon. The preferred positions may often by predicted as for benzene rings. Thus it is possible to draw more canonical forms for the arenium ion when naphthalene is attacked at the a position than when it is attacked at the p position, and the a position is the preferred site of attack,though, as previously mentioned (p. 682), the isomer formed by substitution at the p position is thermodynamically more stable and is the product if the reaction is reversible and equilibrium is reached. Because of the more extensive delocalization of charges in the corresponding arenium ions, naphthalene is more reactive than benzene and substitution is faster at both positions. Similarly, anthracene, phenanthrene, and other fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are also substituted faster than benzene. 

The important bluish mixing component 11.22 for whitening polyester is made by Friedel-Crafts acylation of pyrene (Scheme 11.17). This tetracyclic hydrocarbon is not unlike anthracene in its susceptibility to substitution reactions. The most stable bond arrangement in pyrene appears to be that shown as form 11.47a, which contains three benzenoid (b) rings. Canonical form 11.47b, containing only two such rings, contributes to a lesser extent (Scheme 11.18). In all monosubstitutions, pyrene is attacked initially at the 3-position, corresponding to the a-positions in anthracene or naphthalene. 

In systems of fused six-membered aromatic rings,67 the principal canonical forms are usually not all equivalent. 28 has a central double bond and is thus different from the other two canonical forms of naphthalene, which are equivalent to each other.68 For naphthalene,... 

The resonance energies of fused systems increase as the number of principal canonical forms increases, as predicted by rule 6 (p. 35).75 Thus, for benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, and phenanthrene, for which we can draw, respectively, two, three, four, and five principal canonical forms, the resonance energies are, respectively, 36, 61, 84, and 92 kcal/mol (152, 255, 351, and 385 kJ/mol), calculated from heat-of-combustion data.76 Note that when phenanthrene, which has a total resonance energy of 92 kcal/mol (385 kJ/mol), loses the 9,10 bond by attack of a reagent such as ozone or bromine, two complete benzene rings remain, each with 36 kcal/mol (152 kJ/mol) that would be lost if benzene was similarly attacked. The fact that anthracene undergoes many reactions across the 9,10 positions can... 

In a fused system there are not six electrons for each ring.8" In naphthalene, if one ring is to have six, the other must have only four. One way to explain the greater reactivity of the ring system of naphthalene compared with benzene is to regard one of the naphthalene rings as aromatic and the other as a butadiene system.81 This effect can become extreme, as in the case of triphenylene.82 For this compound, there are eight canonical forms like A. 

In this book we will use a circle to represent single aromatic rings (as, for example, in 24), but will show one canonical form for fused ring compounds (e g., 28). It would be misleading to use two circles for naphthalene, for example, because that would imply 12 aromatic electrons, although naphthalene has only ten.84... 

In contrast to benzene, the bond lengths in naphthalene are not all equal, as illustrated in 4. The resonance energy of naphthalene is 255 kJ mol", which is higher than, though not twice that of, benzene (151 kJ mol" ). In the canonical forms 5 and 7 that contribute to the valence bond structure for naphthalene, only one of the two rings is fully benzenoid. Naphthalene is less aromatic than benzene, which accounts for its higher reactivity towards electrophilic attack compared with benzene. 

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