A study of the global and local aromaticity of hetero[8]circulenes

Abstract

The topological resonance energy (TRE) method was used to investigate the aromaticity of hetero[8]circulenes in both their neutral and doubly charged ion states. The compounds varying stabilities in different charged states were explained in terms of the topological charge stabilization rule. The TRE-based aromaticity indices were compared with those obtained by the gauge-including magnetically induced currents (GIMIC) method. However, the lack of correlation between the TRE and GIMIC aromaticity indices, as well as the contradictory trends observed, suggest that further investigation is necessary to fully understand the aromaticity of hetero[8]circulenes. We employed the circuit resonance energy (CRE) method to assess local aromaticity. Our CRE results indicate that individual benzene or heterocyclic five-membered units within the molecule maintain their strong aromatic character and serve as the primary source of global aromaticity, both in their neutral and doubly charged ion states. Although our CRE results provide valuable insights, it is important to note that there are cases where the magnitude of local aromaticity predicted by the nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS[0] and NICS[1]) indices does not align with our CRE results.