Other Cyclic Polyenes Huckels Rule

In Summary The physical properties of naphthalene are typical of an aromatic system. Its UV spectrum reveals extensive delocalization of all rr electrons, its molecular structure shows bond lengths and bond angles very similar to those in benzene, and its NMR spectrum reveals deshielded ring hydrogens indicative of an aromatic ring current. Other polycyclic benzenoid hydrocarbons have similar properties and are considered aromatic. 

The special stability and reactivity associated with cyclic delocalization is not unique to benzene and polycyclic benzenoids. Thus, we shall see that other cyclic conjugated polyenes can be aromatic, but only if they contain (An + 2) tt electrons (n = 0, 1, 2, 3,. . . ). In contrast, An tt circuits may be destabilized by conjugation, or are antiaromatic. This pattern is known as Hiickel s rule. Nonplanar systems in which cyclic overlap is disrupted sufficiently to impart alkene-like properties are classified as nonaromatic. Let us look at some members of this series, starting with 1,3-cyclobutadiene. 

3-Cyclobutadiene, a An tt system (n = 1), is an air-sensitive and extremely reactive molecule in comparison to its analogs 1,3-butadiene and cyclobutene. Not only does the molecule have none of the attributes of an aromatic molecule like benzene, it is actually destabilized through tt overlap by more than 35 kcal moF (146 kJ moF ) and therefore is antiaromatic. As a consequence, its structure is rectangular, and the two diene forms represent isomers, equilibrating through a symmetrical transition state, rather than resonance forms. 

Free 1,3-cyclobutadiene can be prepared and observed only at very low temperatures. The reactivity of cyclobutadiene can be seen in its rapid Diels-Alder reactions, in which it can act as both diene (shown in red) and dienophile (blue). 

3-Cyclobutadiene dimerizes at temperatures as low as - 200°C to give the two products shown. Explain mechanistically. 

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Other Cyclic Polyenes Huckel s Rule CHAPTER 15... 

This argument can obviously be extended to concerted pericyclic reactions of all kinds. The transition state for any such reaction will be isoconjugate with a normal Hiickel-type cyclic polyene or an anti-Hiickel analog of one. If the transition state is aromatic, the resulting stabilization will lower its energy and so accelerate the reaction. If it is antiaromatic, the converse will be true. Since, moreover, the rules for aromaticity in Huckel-type and anti-Huckel-type systems are diametrically opposite, in each case one will be aromatic and the other antiaromatic. If, then, a reaction can follow one of two alternative pericyclic paths, one involving a Hiickel-type transition state and the other an anti-Hiickel-type transition, the reaction will prefer to follow the path in which the transition state is aromatic. If, on the other hand, only one of the two alternatives is sterically possible, the reaction will take place relatively easily if the corresponding transition state is aromatic and with relative difficulty if it is antiaromatic. In the latter case, the antiaromatic transition state will, if possible, be bypassed by a two-step mechanism in which the transition state is linear instead of cyclic [e.g., equation (5.291)]. 

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