Interesting 18 π-electron systems involving cyclooctadecanonenetriyne rings have been synthesized and examined by computations.1 The mono-, di- and tri-C18
ring compounds 1, 2, and 3 were prepared and the x-ray structure of 2 was obtained. The B3PW91/6-31G(d,p) optimized geometries of 1-3 and of the tetra ring 4 are shown in Figure 1.


1


2


3


4

Figure 1. B3PW91/6-31G(d,p) optimized geometries of 1-4.

Since the rings are composed of 18 π-electrons in the π-system perpendicular to the nearly planar ring, the natural question is to wonder if the ring is aromatic. The authors computed NICS(0) and NICS(1) values at the center of the C18 rings. For all four compounds, both the NICS(0) and NICS(1) values are negative, ranging from -12.4 to -14.9 ppm, indicating that the rings are aromatic.

References

1) Chongwei, Z.; Albert, P.; Carine, D.; Brice, K.; Alix, S.; ValĂ©rie, M.; Remi, C., "Carbo‐biphenyls and Carbo‐terphenyls: Oligo(phenylene ethynylene) Ring Carbo‐mers." Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 5640-5644, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201713411.

InChIs

1: InChI=1S/C58H54/c1-3-5-7-9-11-17-27-49-37-41-55(51-29-19-13-20-30-51)45-47-57(53-33-23-15-24-34-53)43-39-50(28-18-12-10-8-6-4-2)40-44-58(54-35-25-16-26-36-54)48-46-56(42-38-49)52-31-21-14-22-32-52/h13-16,19-26,29-36H,3-12,17-18,27-28H2,1-2H3
InChIKey=KWXYBTWOEJBCQD-UHFFFAOYSA-N

2: InChI=1S/C102H74/c1-3-5-7-9-11-21-39-83-59-67-95(87-41-23-13-24-42-87)75-79-99(91-49-31-17-32-50-91)71-63-85(64-72-100(92-51-33-18-34-52-92)80-76-96(68-60-83)88-43-25-14-26-44-88)57-58-86-65-73-101(93-53-35-19-36-54-93)81-77-97(89-45-27-15-28-46-89)69-61-84(40-22-12-10-8-6-4-2)62-70-98(90-47-29-16-30-48-90)78-82-102(74-66-86)94-55-37-20-38-56-94/h13-20,23-38,41-56H,3-12,21-22,39-40H2,1-2H3
InChIKey=HHRPTZGYBIHFOL-UHFFFAOYSA-N

3: InChI=1S/C146H94/c1-3-5-7-9-11-25-51-117-81-93-135(123-53-27-13-28-54-123)105-109-139(127-61-35-17-36-62-127)97-85-119(86-98-140(128-63-37-18-38-64-128)110-106-136(94-82-117)124-55-29-14-30-56-124)77-79-121-89-101-143(131-69-43-21-44-70-131)113-115-145(133-73-47-23-48-74-133)103-91-122(92-104-146(134-75-49-24-50-76-134)116-114-144(102-90-121)132-71-45-22-46-72-132)80-78-120-87-99-141(129-65-39-19-40-66-129)111-107-137(125-57-31-15-32-58-125)95-83-118(52-26-12-10-8-6-4-2)84-96-138(126-59-33-16-34-60-126)108-112-142(100-88-120)130-67-41-20-42-68-130/h13-24,27-50,53-76H,3-12,25-26,51-52H2,1-2H3
InChIKey=WCBXPLIBHKYESX-UHFFFAOYSA-N

4: InChI=1S/C190H114/c1-3-5-7-9-11-29-63-151-103-119-175(159-65-31-13-32-66-159)135-139-179(163-73-39-17-40-74-163)123-107-153(108-124-180(164-75-41-18-42-76-164)140-136-176(120-104-151)160-67-33-14-34-68-160)97-99-155-111-127-183(167-81-47-21-48-82-167)143-147-187(171-89-55-25-56-90-171)131-115-157(116-132-188(172-91-57-26-58-92-172)148-144-184(128-112-155)168-83-49-22-50-84-168)101-102-158-117-133-189(173-93-59-27-60-94-173)149-145-185(169-85-51-23-52-86-169)129-113-156(114-130-186(170-87-53-24-54-88-170)146-150-190(134-118-158)174-95-61-28-62-96-174)100-98-154-109-125-181(165-77-43-19-44-78-165)141-137-177(161-69-35-15-36-70-161)121-105-152(64-30-12-10-8-6-4-2)106-122-178(162-71-37-16-38-72-162)138-142-182(126-110-154)166-79-45-20-46-80-166/h13-28,31-62,65-96H,3-12,29-30,63-64H2,1-2H3
InChIKey=LLVPDVPZEIYJGN-UHFFFAOYSA-N