Substituent effects on the aromaticity of benzene—An approach based on interaction coordinates

Benzene and 23 monosubstituted and 32 disubstituted derivatives of benzene were optimized for minimum energy structures using the B3LYP/cc-pVTZ method. The force fields of all the compounds were evaluated at their optimized geometries using the same method and basis set. In order to understand the effect of substitution(s) on the aromaticity of benzene, the aromaticity index based on interaction coordinates (AIBIC) values were computed for each and the change from the benzene value was obtained. This difference, the substituent effect based on interaction coordinates (SEBIC), quantifies the effect of the substituent on the aromaticity of benzene ring satisfactorily. It is found that the AIBIC of disubstituted benzenes (XC6H4Y) could be predicted well by adding the respective SEBIC(C6H5X) and SEBIC(C6H5Y) values to the AIBIC of benzene. The projected force fields of the meta and para fragments of the monosubstituted benzenes when chosen properly contain the information about the directing influence of the substituent in terms of the electron density based on interaction coordinates (EDBIC). When the EDBIC(para) > EDBIC(meta) relative to benzene, the substituent is ortho-para directing, while when the reverse is true, it is meta directing. The effect of conformational changes on aromaticity has been studied using aminophenols and dihydroxybenzenes. The additivity rule and the EDBIC concept work adequately well in that the methods can have several useful practical applications that will benefit various areas of science. A good understanding of the substituent effects and the ability to predict them should add a new dimension to the applications of AIBIC.