Magnetotropicity of phosphole and its arsenic analogue

Spatial ring current models for the phosphole molecule and its arsenic parent have been constructed. Diatropism of these molecules is quite peculiar and fundamentally different from that of benzene as shown by stagnation graphs of current density field. Maps of shielding density are helpful for interpreting the effect of electronic currents on nuclear shielding. Constrained planarity increases the degree of diatropicity quantitatively specified by magnetic descriptors, which implies that ring currents go together with pi-electron distortivity.