Synthesis of a Möbius aromatic hydrocarbon

D. Ajami, O. Oeckler, A. Simon and R. Herges ()
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D. Ajami: Universität Kiel
O. Oeckler: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
A. Simon: Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung
R. Herges: Universität Kiel

Nature, 2003, vol. 426, issue 6968, 819-821

Abstract: Abstract The defining feature of aromatic hydrocarbon compounds is a cyclic molecular structure stabilized by the delocalization of π electrons that, according to the Hückel rule, need to total 4n + 2 (n = 1,2,…); cyclic compounds with 4n π electrons are antiaromatic and unstable. But in 1964, Heilbronner predicted1 on purely theoretical grounds that cyclic molecules with the topology of a Möbius band—a ring constructed by joining the ends of a rectangular strip after having given one end half a twist—should be aromatic if they contain 4n, rather than 4n + 2, π electrons. The prediction stimulated attempts to synthesize Möbius aromatic hydrocarbons, but twisted cyclic molecules are destabilized by large ring strains, with the twist also suppressing overlap of the p orbitals involved in electron delocalization and stabilization. In larger cyclic molecules, ring strain is less pronounced but the structures are very flexible and flip back to the less-strained Hückel topology2,3. Although transition-state species4, an unstable intermediate5 and a non-conjugated cyclic molecule6, all with a Möbius topology, have been documented, a stable aromatic Möbius system has not yet been realized. Here we report that combining a ‘normal’ aromatic structure (with p orbitals orthogonal to the ring plane) and a ‘belt-like’ aromatic structure (with p orbitals within the ring plane) yields a Möbius compound stabilized by its extended π system.

Date: 2003
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DOI: 10.1038/nature02224

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