Selenophene, aromaticity estimates

Structures and nomenclature for the most important five-membered monocycles with one or more heteroatoms are depicted in Scheme 1. The aromaticity scale in five-membered heterocycles has been long debated.97-101 The decreasing order of aromaticity based on various criteria is (DRE values in kcal/ mol) benzene (22.6) > thiophene (6.5) > selenophene > pyrrole (5.3) > tellurophene > fur an (4.3). Pyrrole and furan have comparable ring strains (Scheme 38). The aromaticity of furan is still controversial 100 the NMR shielding by ring current estimated it at about 60% of the aromaticity of benzene, and other methods reviewed earlier102 estimated it at less than 20%. 

The fact remains that selenophene and its derivatives have aromatic character. This statement is, however, not easy to substantiate with quantitative data mainly because there are too many ambiguities for parent five-membered ring heterocycles. Some aromaticity indices for five-membered rings with one heteroatom, among them selenophene, were summarized and estimated values for thiophene and selenophene were similar [26], The data obtained from photoelectron ionization energies show that the aromatic stabilization in thiophene is slightly larger than for selenophene [27],... 

Another theoretical criterion applied to estimation of aromaticity of homo- and heteroaromatic ring system is aromatic stabilization energy (ASE). Based on this approach, the aromatic sequence of five-membered ring systems (ASE in kcal mol-1) is pyrrole (20.6) > thiophene (18.6) > selenophene (16.7) > phosphole (3.2) [29], According to geometric criterion HOMA, based on the harmonic oscillator model [30-33], thiophene is more aromatic than pyrrole and the decreasing order of aromaticity is thiophene (0.891) > pyrrole (0.879) > selenophene (0.877) > furan (0.298) > phosphole (0.236) [29],... 

The aromaticity of a heterocycle depends on how effectively the lone-pair of the heteroatom contributes to the aromatic sextet. The aromaticity of five-membered heterocyclic compounds may be estimated from their reactivity in the Diels-Alder reaction.94 Spectrophotometry shows that furan, thiophene, and selenophene resemble benzene in that with maleic anhydride 1 1 complexes are formed which are stable up to 150°C in the case of thiophene, decompose at 150°C with selenophene (whereby selenium is formed together with a diene which gives a further adduct with another molecule of maleic anhydride), and produce the usual adduct at 20°C with furan. Thus, only furan is a normal diene as regards the Diels-Alder reaction. 

The aromaticity of furan and thiophene has been compared by nearly all the criteria by which aromaticity may be assessed. All the available information, based either on thermodynamic, structural, or magnetic approaches, indicates that thiophene is more aromatic than furan and that both are less aromatic than benzene.14 The aromaticity of selenophene has been estimated to be very similar to that of thiophene from studies on chemical, spectroscopic,21 and magnetic properties.13... 

The only exception is represented by the diamagnetic molar susceptibility exaltation (A), defined as the difference between the experimental molar susceptibility and the susceptibility estimated for the identical but not electron-delocalized structure. This method leads to a completely different and not credible order of aromaticity (selenophene > benzene). The procedure probably needs to be refined in order to give satisfactory results with heterocyclic compounds moreover, the Pascal constants for selenium and tellurium are likely not to be sufficiently accurate. 

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