Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Preparation of a Corannulene-functionalized Hexahelicene by Copper(I)-catalyzed Alkyne-azide Cycloaddition of Nonplanar Polyaromatic Units
Published on: September 18, 2016
Critical analysis of the local aromaticity concept in polyaromatic hydrocarbons
1Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281 (S3), B-9000 Gent, Belgium. Patrick.Bultinck@UGent.be
Abstract:
A large number of local aromaticity indices for the benzenoid rings in polyaromatic hydrocarbons is computed. The results are interpreted, supporting Clar's hypothesis, and mutual correlations are investigated. It is shown that there are good correlations between all indices that strictly allow comparing benzenoid character. Poor correlations are found with NICS. A rationale is offered, yielding the conclusion that NICS and ring current maps follow a fundamentally different path to local aromaticity. In this sense the lack of correlation is not due to a real multidimensional character of aromaticity but rather to confusion and vagueness of the aromaticity concept.
Related Concept Videos
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Anions: Structural Overview
Due to the absence of continuous overlap of p...
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Cations: Structural Overview
Removing one hydrogen from the intervening CH2 group with both...
Criteria for Aromaticity and the Hückel 4n + 2 Rule
For the first time, Eric Hückel, a German chemical physicist, derived a set of structural features for a compound to be classified as aromatic. This is now known as Hückel’s rule or the 4n + 2 rule.
Frost Circles for Different Conjugated Systems
Aromatic Compounds: Overview
In 1825, Faraday isolated benzene...
Five-Membered Heterocyclic Aromatic Compounds: Overview

