Dications of fluorenylidenes. Contribution of magnetic and structural effects to the antiaromaticity of fluorenylidene dications with cyclic substituents.
The antiaromaticity of fluorenylidene dications 1-5, which contain cyclic cationic substituents, has been examined using magnetic criteria, NICS and magnetic susceptibility, and by structural criteria, HOMA. The magnetic criteria, including proton chemical shifts, strongly support the antiaromaticity of the fluorenyl ring system of these dications. HOMA values are a very insensitive measure of structural effects in polycyclic ring systems because they reflect the inability of the fused ring systems to respond to changes in aromaticity/antiaromaticity. Finally, in these systems, the interaction between the ring systems appears to occur primarily through a type of hyperconjugation, as demonstrated by a decrease in the bond lengths for the bonds connecting the ring systems. In conjunction with the evaluation of magnetic effects, the quality of the calculation of (1)H and (13)C NMR shifts was assessed by comparison with experimental data. The calculation of (13)C NMR shifts was excellent in all methods examined, but the quality of (1)H NMR shifts was substantially poorer in calculations using the IGLO method, basis set DZ or II. The CSGT method gives a superior correlation between experimental and calculated (1)H NMR shifts.