Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Can somebody explain this to me?


Hi All,

Can somebody explain to me why this compound (tetralin- C10H12) is aromatic (Sapling Q.4a) even though it has sp3 carbons in the second ring.

ChemSpider 2D Image | TETRALIN | C10H12

3 comments:

  1. Hey,

    This is aromatic, because the pi system (the uninterrupted electrons) are all in one ring. The first ring doesnt really contribute to it, so just look at the second ring. The second ring has 3 pairs of electrons, and its planar so thats why its aromatic.
    Hope that helps!

    PGM

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  2. I agree with PMG. But another way to look at it is just follow the rules....

    Are there an odd number of electron pairs?

    does the cyclic structure that contains the delocalized pairs have an sp2 hybridization..... an odd number of double bonds....?

    If so then the structure is aromatic.

    Plus this molecule is similar to the naphthalene's chemical structure except that one ring is saturated. And Naphthalene can be converted into tetralin.... by using H2....To me it helps me know for sure that tetralin is a aromatic because I know that naphthalene is also aromatic:)

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  3. Got it. Thanks guys!

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