Super-Delocalized Valence Isomer of Coronene

Abstract

Coronene (1) has been proposed to be "superaromatic", but energetic, geometric, and magnetic criteria of global and local aromaticity fail to support this proposal, and indeed, the calculated current-density map shows opposition of currents: diatropic on the 18-carbon rim and paratropic on the 6-carbon hub. However, [7,5,7,5,7,5]-isocoronene (2) ([7,5,7,5,7,5:6]-circulene, or isocoronene, for short), which is a valence isomer in which alternate pentagons and heptagons replace the hexagons surrounding the central ring, is predicted to have a single, unopposed, intense diatropic perimeter current arising from its four pi HOMO electrons, such as in the ipsocentric description of classically aromatic [4n + 2]-annulenes, hence, qualifying 2 as superaromatic on the magnetic criterion. This conclusion is in excellent agreement with anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (359 cgs-ppm for isocoronene vs 247 cgs-ppm for coronene) and exaltation of magnetic susceptibility (isocoronene exceeds coronene by 51.4 cgs-ppm). Central and perimeter bond lengths suggest an increased aromaticity of isocoronene. In contrast, the energetic criterion shows that isocoronene is destabilized with respect to coronene by ca. 105 kcal/mol of which only ca. 30 kcal/mol can be attributed to differential strain.