Thiopyrones aromaticity

Pyrones and thiopyrones react very readily with a variety of nucleophiles, but here the situation is complicated not only by the carbonyl group, but by the fact that these compounds show elements of both aromatic and aliphatic character. Pyran-2-one (9) can in principle react with nucleophiles at the 2-, 4- or 6-position and examples of each type of reaction are known. There is an approximate correlation with the hard and soft acid and base hypothesis, in that hard nucleophiles such as HO generally react at the 2-position while soft nucleophiles such as hydride ion generally react at the 6-position. Reactions at the 4-and 6-positions can, of course, be rationalized mechanistically simply as examples of conjugate addition. A similar situation obtains with pyran-4-ones (10), where reaction can in principle occur at the 2- or 4-position. Hard nucleophiles generally react at the 2-position,... 

Quinolin-4-one forms a 3-bromo derivative, but coumarin gives the addition compound (116) which is easily re-aromatized (116 — 117). 4-Thiopyrones are halogenated in position 3. Pyridazinones and cinnolinones are also readily halogenated in the expected position. 

Few of these species are strictly aromatic, but reactivity with electrophiles resembles that of aromatic compounds. Much of the discussion that follows will be devoted to the pyrones and thiopyrones (the fused benz-derivatives, coumarins, chromones, flavones, and isoflavones, will be covered in Part 3). 

As can be seen from the foregoing, it does not seem possible, in the light of present knowledge, to make valid generalizations concerning the reactivity of the individual thiopyrones, their aromatic character, or other properties. In special cases reactivity and stability suggest a certain aromatic behavior of thiopyrones (see Ref. 128), but other facts seem to contradict this. It is debatable whether one can deduce from the physical data an important contribution from the zwitter-ionic state and a pronounced aromaticity from the salt like character which is a result of this. 

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