Dihydropyrene as an Aromaticity Probe for Partially Quinoid Push-Pull Systems

Although aromaticity is a key concept in chemistry that is frequently used to explain the structure and reactivity of organic compounds, it remains challenging to actually measure this property. Proper probes allow for an experimental quantification of aromaticity using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and in this study 15,16-dimethyl-15,16-dihydropyrene (DHP) is demonstrated to be particularly well suited for this purpose. DHP has two internal methyl groups, which are positioned within the pi cloud of this bridged, planar, and rigid [14] annulene, and are therefore shifted to higher field in proton NMR spectra owing to ring-current effects. A specific DHP derivative bearing strongly electron-donating dimethylamino and strongly electron-accepting nitro groups in a relative pseudo-para orientation has been synthesized and characterized with respect to its quinoid character. Solvatochromism as well as a reduced ring current show that the partial quinoid character in this push-pull DHP derivative is about 12%. This study extends the scope of DHP as an aromaticity probe and aids in the better understanding of the phenomenon of aromaticity.