Biphenylene

Biphenylene

Diphenylene
Diphnylene 3D
Names
IUPAC name Biphenylene
Other names Diphenylene
Identifiers
CAS Number	259-79-0 N
ChEBI	CHEBI:33079 Y
ChemSpider	8859 Y
Jmol 3D model	Interactive image
PubChem	9214
InChI InChI=1S/C12H8/c1-2-6-10-9(5-1)11-7-3-4-8-12(10)11/h1-8H Y Key: IFVTZJHWGZSXFD-UHFFFAOYSA-N Y InChI=1/C12H8/c1-2-6-10-9(5-1)11-7-3-4-8-12(10)11/h1-8H Key: IFVTZJHWGZSXFD-UHFFFAOYAR
SMILES c1ccc-2c(c1)-c3c2cccc3
Properties
Chemical formula	C12H8
Molar mass	152.19 g/mol
Appearance	solid
Melting point	109 to 111 °C (228 to 232 °F; 382 to 384 K)
Vapor pressure	{{{value}}}
Related compounds
Related unsaturated hydrocarbons	benzene cyclobutene cyclobutadiene
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
N verify (what is YN ?)
Infobox references

Biphenylene is an alternant, polycyclic hydrocarbon composed of two benzene rings joined together by a pair of mutual attachments (as opposed to a normal ring fusion), thus forming a 6-4-6 arene system. The resulting planar structure was one of the first pi-electronic hydrocarbon systems discovered to show evidence of antiaromaticity.

The biphenylene structure can also be understood as a dimer of the reactive intermediate benzyne, which in fact serves as a major synthetic route, e.g., from benzenediazonium-2-carboxylate.

Properties

Biphenylene, a pale yellowish solid with a hay-like odor, was first synthesized by Lothrop in 1941. The chemistry of biphenylene is extensive, and has been the subject of two major reviews., Biphenylene is quite stable both chemically and thermally, and behaves in many ways like a traditional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. However, both the spectral and chemical properties show the influence of the central [4n] ring, leading to considerable interest in the system in terms of its degree of lessened aromaticity.

Questions of bond alternation and ring currents have been investigated repeatedly. Both X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction studies show a considerable alternation of bond lengths, with the bridging bonds between the benzenoid rings having the unusually great length of 1.524 Å. The separation of the rings is also reflected by the absence of the transmission of NMR substituent effects through the central [4n] ring. However, more sensitive NMR evidence, and particularly the shifting of proton resonances to high field, does indicate the existence of electron delocalization in the central [4n] ring., This upfield shift has been interpreted in terms of diminished benzenoid ring currents, either with or without an accompanying paramagnetic ring current in the central [4n] ring. Magnetic susceptibility measurements also show a diminishing of both diamagnetic exaltation and diamagnetic anisotropy, relative to comparable pure [4n+2] systems, which is also consistent with a reduction of ring current diamagnetism. The electronic structure of biphenylene in the gas phase has the HOMO at a binding energy of 7.8 eV.

Higher Biphenylenes

A fair number of higher polycycles containing the biphenylene nucleus have also been prepared, some having considerable antiaromatic character. In general, additional 6-membered rings add further aromatic character, and additional 4-membered and 8-membered rings add antiaromatic character. However, the exact natures of the additions and fusions greatly affect the perturbations of the biphenylene system, with many fusions resulting in counter-intuitive stabilization by [4n] rings, or destabilization by 6-membered rings. This has led to significant interest in the systems by theoretical chemists and graph theoreticians.