{"id":24503,"date":"2021-12-16T18:15:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T18:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ch.imperial.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?p=24503"},"modified":"2022-02-23T11:39:18","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T11:39:18","slug":"molecule-of-the-year-2021-infinitene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?p=24503","title":{"rendered":"Molecule of the year 2021: Infinitene."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The annual “molecule of the year<\/a>” results for 2021 are now available … and the winner is Infinitene<\/strong>.[1]<\/a><\/span>,[2]<\/a><\/span> This is a benzocirculene in the form of a figure eight loop (the infinity symbol), a shape which is also called a lemniscate <\/strong>[3]<\/a><\/span> after the mathematical (2D) function due to Bernoulli. The most common class of molecule which exhibits this (well known) motif are hexaphyrins (hexaporphyrins; porphyrin is a tetraphyrin)[4]<\/a><\/span>,[5]<\/a><\/span>,[6]<\/a><\/span>, many of which exhibit lemniscular topology as determined from a crystal structure. Straightforward annulenes have also been noted to display this[7]<\/a><\/span> (as first suggested here for a [14]annulene[8]<\/a><\/span>) and other molecules show higher-order M\u00f6bius forms such as trefoil knots.[9]<\/a><\/span>,[10]<\/a><\/span> This new example uses twelve benzo groups instead of six porphyrin units to construct the lemniscate. So the motif is not new, but this is the first time it has been constructed purely from benzene rings.<\/p>\n

The molecule has D2<\/sub> chiral symmetry and is shown below (click on the image for the 3D model obtained from the crystal structure).\"\"<\/p>\n

The authors suggest that the aromaticity in a D2<\/sub>-symmetric [12]-circulene is confined to six “Clar” rings each of six electrons, and is not delocalised around the entire molecule. For a molecule with this topology (defined by a linking number, Lk = 2\u03c0[11]<\/a><\/span>) the entire system would be defined as aromatic (delocalised) for 4n+2 electrons and antiaromatic for 4n electrons around a continuous annulene loop. In this example outer annulene circuits of either 34 or 38 carbons can be constructed which retain D2<\/sub>-symmetry and which both follow the 4n+2 rule, whilst a small inner circuit of 14 carbons can be also be constructed. There are probably other D2<\/sub>-symmetric circuits that could be constructed.<\/p>\n

When I saw the molecule, I asked myself what the calculated\u00a0chiroptical properties for the molecule might be; the optical rotation of the two\u00a0(separated) enantiomers of [12]-circulene were reported as +1130\u00b0 (P,P) and -1112\u00b0 (M,M). The calculated value (\u03c9B97XD\/Def2-TZVPP) is in excellent agreement. I have also included versions of this system with [11] and [10] benzo rings, which will be discussed in a future post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Benzene units<\/th>\noptical rotation (589nm), \u00b0<\/th>\nDOI<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
12 (P,P)<\/td>\n+1143<\/td>\n10.14469\/hpc\/10000<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11 (P,P)<\/td>\n+1025<\/td>\n10.14469\/hpc\/10037<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10 (P,P)<\/td>\n-163\u2021<\/sup><\/td>\n10.14469\/hpc\/10001<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

For good measure, the calculated VCD spectrum
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now to the geometry, as obtained from the crystal structure. The [12]circulene shows in total 12 short lengths of 1.348\u00c5\u00b10.014, indicating significant localisation in the system. The D2<\/sub>-symmetric C34 path through the system shows a mean length for each bond of 1.405\u00c5, with a maximum value of 1.443\u00c5 and a minimum 1.334\u00c5. For this path, the topology of the system indicates Lw = 2\u03c0 = 0.393Tw<\/sub> + 1.607Wr<\/sub>[12]<\/a><\/span> This means that most of the coiling of the molecule that results in that figure eight is actually comprised of a topological property known as writhe (Wr)<\/sub> rather than adjacent twisting (Tw)<\/sub>\u00a0of the p-orbitals. This retains much p(\u03c0)-p(\u03c0) overlap and hence stabilisation. The values for the inner C14 route are Lw = 2\u03c0 = 1.256Tw<\/sub> + 0.744Wr<\/sub> which is more highly twisted than the larger outer pathway and so aromaticity via this route is less favoured due to less favourable p(\u03c0)-p(\u03c0) overlaps.<\/p>\n

I also note that the Lw = 2\u03c0 is an alternative chiral descriptor to the helical notation of (P,P).\u00a0The (M,M) form would have Lw = -2\u03c0. The linking number is more general for more complex helical forms such as trefoils, cinquefoils, hexafoils etc.<\/p>\n

So it turns out that this molecule has a fascinating challenge for trying to describe its extended delocalised aromaticity (rather than localised six-membered Clar rings), since more than one “annulene route” for which the\u00a0“H\u00fcckel\/M\u00f6bius rules” might apply exists.[11]<\/a><\/span> Given that the maximum bond length for one of those routes (the [34]annulene) is 1.443\u00c5, there may well be a contribution from this mode of aromaticity other than that from the Clar rings.<\/p>\n

I hope to take a look at the [11] and [10]circulenes in a future post.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2021<\/sup>The explanation for this sign inversion is delightful but too complex to give here.[13]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

This post has DOI: 10.14469\/hpc\/10036<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

References<\/h2>\n
  1. K. Itami, M. Krzeszewski, and H. Ito, \"Infinitene: A Helically Twisted Figure-Eight [12]Circulene Topoisomer\", 2021. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.26434\/chemrxiv-2021-pcwcc<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  2. M. Krzeszewski, H. Ito, and K. Itami, \"Infinitene: A Helically Twisted Figure-Eight [12]Circulene Topoisomer\", Journal of the American Chemical Society<\/i>, vol. 144, pp. 862-871, 2021. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1021\/jacs.1c10807<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  3. C.S.M. Allan, and H.S. Rzepa, \"Chiral Aromaticities. AIM and ELF Critical Point and NICS Magnetic Analyses of M\u00f6bius-Type Aromaticity and Homoaromaticity in Lemniscular Annulenes and Hexaphyrins\", The Journal of Organic Chemistry<\/i>, vol. 73, pp. 6615-6622, 2008. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1021\/jo801022b<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  4. H. Rath, J. Sankar, V. PrabhuRaja, T.K. ChandrashekarPresent address: The D, B.S. Joshi, and R. Roy, \"Figure-eight aromatic core-modified octaphyrins with six meso links: syntheses and structural characterization\", Chemical Communications<\/i>, pp. 3343, 2005. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1039\/b502327k<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  5. https:\/\/doi.org\/<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  6. https:\/\/doi.org\/<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  7. T. Perera, F.R. Fronczek, and S.F. Watkins, \"2,9,16,23-Tetrakis(1-methylethyl)-5,6,11,12,13,14,19,20,25,26,27,28-dodecadehydrotetrabenzo[<i>a<\/i>,<i>e<\/i>,<i>k<\/i>,<i>o<\/i>]cycloeicosene\", Acta Crystallographica Section E Structure Reports Online<\/i>, vol. 67, pp. o3493-o3493, 2011. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1107\/s1600536811048604<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  8. H.S. Rzepa, \"A Double-Twist M\u00f6bius-Aromatic Conformation of [14]Annulene\", Organic Letters<\/i>, vol. 7, pp. 4637-4639, 2005. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1021\/ol0518333<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  9. G.R. Schaller, F. Topi\u0107, K. Rissanen, Y. Okamoto, J. Shen, and R. Herges, \"Design and synthesis of the first triply twisted M\u00f6bius annulene\", Nature Chemistry<\/i>, vol. 6, pp. 608-613, 2014. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/nchem.1955<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  10. S.M. Bachrach, and H.S. Rzepa, \"Cycloparaphenylene M\u00f6bius trefoils\", Chemical Communications<\/i>, vol. 56, pp. 13567-13570, 2020. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1039\/d0cc04190d<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  11. P.L. Ayers, R.J. Boyd, P. Bultinck, M. Caffarel, R. Carb\u00f3-Dorca, M. Caus\u00e1, J. Cioslowski, J. Contreras-Garcia, D.L. Cooper, P. Coppens, C. Gatti, S. Grabowsky, P. Lazzeretti, P. Macchi, ?. Mart\u00edn Pend\u00e1s, P.L. Popelier, K. Ruedenberg, H. Rzepa, A. Savin, A. Sax, W.E. Schwarz, S. Shahbazian, B. Silvi, M. Sol\u00e0, and V. Tsirelson, \"Six questions on topology in theoretical chemistry\", Computational and Theoretical Chemistry<\/i>, vol. 1053, pp. 2-16, 2015. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.comptc.2014.09.028<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  12. S.M. Rappaport, and H.S. Rzepa, \"Intrinsically Chiral Aromaticity. Rules Incorporating Linking Number, Twist, and Writhe for Higher-Twist M\u00f6bius Annulenes\", Journal of the American Chemical Society<\/i>, vol. 130, pp. 7613-7619, 2008. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1021\/ja710438j<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n
  13. M.S. Andrade, V.S. Silva, A.M. Louren\u00e7o, A.M. Lobo, and H.S. Rzepa, \"Chiroptical Properties of Streptorubin B: The Synergy Between Theory and Experiment\", Chirality<\/i>, vol. 27, pp. 745-751, 2015. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/chir.22486<\/a>\n\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<\/div> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The annual “molecule of the year” results for 2021 are now available … and the winner is Infinitene., This is a benzocirculene in the form of a figure eight loop (the infinity symbol), a shape which is also called a lemniscate after the mathematical (2D) function due to Bernoulli. The most common class of molecule […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":5,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2644,4],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[2661],"class_list":["post-24503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chiroptics","category-interesting-chemistry"],"yoast_head":"\nMolecule of the year 2021: Infinitene. - Henry Rzepa's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?p=24503\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Molecule of the year 2021: Infinitene. - Henry Rzepa's Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The annual “molecule of the year” results for 2021 are now available … and the winner is Infinitene., This is a benzocirculene in the form of a figure eight loop (the infinity symbol), a shape which is also called a lemniscate after the mathematical (2D) function due to Bernoulli. 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An \"inverted\" sandwich is where the carbon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interesting chemistry"","block_context":{"text":"Interesting chemistry","link":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24974,"url":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?p=24974","url_meta":{"origin":24503,"position":2},"title":"C2N2: a 10-electron four-atom molecule displaying both H\u00fcckel 4n+2 and Baird 4n selection rules for ring aromaticity.","author":"Henry Rzepa","date":"April 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The previous examples of four atom systems displaying two layers of aromaticity illustrated how 4 (B4), 8 (C4) and 12 (N4) valence electrons were partitioned into 4n+2 manifolds (respectively 2+2, 6+2 and 6+6). The triplet state molecule B2C2 with 6 electrons partitioned into 2\u03c0 and 4\u03c3 electrons, with the latter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interesting chemistry"","block_context":{"text":"Interesting chemistry","link":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/CN-np-300x249.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24159,"url":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?p=24159","url_meta":{"origin":24503,"position":3},"title":"Tetra-isopropylmethane and tetra-t-butylmethane.","author":"Henry Rzepa","date":"August 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The homologous hydrocarbon series R4C is known for R=Me as neopentane and for R=Et as 3,3-diethylpentane. The next homologue, R=iPr bis(3,3-isopropyl)-2,4-dimethylpentane is also a known molecule for which a crystal structure has been reported (DOI: https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5517\/cc4wvnh). The final member of the series, R= tbutyl is unknown. Here I have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interesting chemistry"","block_context":{"text":"Interesting chemistry","link":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8588,"url":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?p=8588","url_meta":{"origin":24503,"position":4},"title":"Why is the Sharpless epoxidation enantioselective? Part 1: a simple model.","author":"Henry Rzepa","date":"December 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Sharpless epoxidation converts a prochiral allylic alcohol into the corresponding chiral epoxide with > 90% enantiomeric excess,. Here is the first step in trying to explain how this magic is achieved. The scheme above shows how (achiral) prop-2-enol is converted using the asymmetric catalyst\u00a0(R,R)-diethyl tartrate \u00a0and t-butyl hydroperoxide as oxidant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interesting chemistry"","block_context":{"text":"Interesting chemistry","link":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ch.imperial.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/sharpless.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17142,"url":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?p=17142","url_meta":{"origin":24503,"position":5},"title":"Molecule of the year (month\/week)?","author":"Henry Rzepa","date":"December 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Chemical and engineering news (C&EN) is asking people to vote for their molecule of the year from six highlighted candidates. This reminded me of the history of internet-based \"molecules of the moment\". It is thought that the concept originated in December 1995 here at Imperial and in January 1996 at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "crystal_structure_mining"","block_context":{"text":"crystal_structure_mining","link":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/?cat=1745"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/ferris.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"authors":[{"term_id":2661,"user_id":1,"is_guest":0,"slug":"admin","display_name":"Henry Rzepa","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/897b6740f7f599bca7942cdf7d7914af5988937ae0e3869ab09aebb87f26a731?s=96&d=blank&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24503"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24721,"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24503\/revisions\/24721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24503"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ch.ic.ac.uk\/rzepa\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fppma_author&post=24503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}