Impact of heteroatoms (S, Se, and Te) on the aromaticity of heterocirculenes

Abstract

A series of thia[7]circulenes and novel Se-, Te-, S/Te-, and Se/Te-substituted [8]circulenes have been studied by calculations of nucleus-independent chemical shift indices and gauge including magnetically induced currents to interpret the impact of heteroatoms on the aromatic properties of these polyheterocyclic species. The calculations indicate that all the studied hetero[7]circulenes and hetero[8]circulenes consist of two concentric subsystems: an inner seven- or eight-membered core is antiaromatic because of the existence of a paratropic ring current, and an outer system of benzene and hetarene rings that exhibit aromatic behaviour due to the circulation of diatropic ring currents. Thus, most of the hetero[7]circulenes can be considered as slightly antiaromatic because of the slight domination of the paratropic ring currents over the diatropic ones, whereas hetero[8]circulenes represent aromatic species due to the prevailing contribution of the diatropic currents. The antiaromaticity gradually increases with more scattered arrangements of the thiophene and benzene rings in each series of di-, tri-, tetra-, and pentathia[7]circulenes because of the reduced conjugation effect between the neighboring thiophene and benzene rings. Loss of planarity with increased strain leads to an increased antiaromatic character of the lower representatives of the thia[n]circulenes, whereas higher thia[n]circulenes demonstrate a more pronounced aromatic nature because of the small deviation from planarity. The ring current topology is found to be quite insensitive to the heteroatom type, number of hetarene rings and the size of the inner ring; this clearly manifests the special electronic structure of hetero[n]circulenes containing two concentric cyclic subsystems.