Issue 19, 2020

Relativity or aromaticity? A first-principles perspective of chemical shifts in osmabenzene and osmapentalene derivatives

Abstract

We have studied the magnetic response properties and aromaticity of osmium metallacycles by means of scalar-relativistic (1c) and fully relativistic (4c) density functional theory computations. For osmabenzene, whose aromatic character is controversial, a topological analysis of the current density has revealed the presence of a unique σ-type Craig–Möbius magnetic aromaticity. We show that the partially filled osmium valence shell induces a large paratropic current, which may interfere with certain methods commonly used to analyze aromaticity, in particular NICS. Further, we show that the extreme deshielding of the light atoms in the vicinity of the osmium atoms in osmapentalene derivatives is not a consequence of aromaticity but can be explained by paramagnetic couplings between σOs—C bonding orbitals and the π*Os orbitals. We demonstrate that variations in the orientation of the induced magnetic currents through the molecule dictates the alternating signs of the spin–orbit contribution to the NMR chemical shift.

Graphical abstract: Relativity or aromaticity? A first-principles perspective of chemical shifts in osmabenzene and osmapentalene derivatives

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Marts 2020
Accepted
21 Apr. 2020
First published
05 Maijs 2020

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2020,22, 10863-10869

Relativity or aromaticity? A first-principles perspective of chemical shifts in osmabenzene and osmapentalene derivatives

C. Foroutan-Nejad, J. Vícha and A. Ghosh, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2020, 22, 10863 DOI: 10.1039/D0CP01481H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements