Assignment of aromaticity of the classic heterobenzenes by three aromatic criteria

Aromaticity is a key concept in physical organic chemistry. The aromatic order of the classic heterobenzenes was reported in experiment early. However, the unambiguous criteria used to validate the aromaticity of that were controversial or inadequate in theory. In this work, the global aromaticity of the compounds has been studied using the ELF, NICS and ISE. NICS(max)zz was calculated based on the maximum NICS contribution to the out-of-plane zz tensor component. Two types of bonds are observed. The correlations between NICS(max)σzz and NICS(max)πzz with respect to aromaticity are demonstrated, specifically between NICS(max)πzz and ELFπ (cc = 0.98) for π bonds. For σ bonds, the different electron delocalization of σ bonds out of the plane of the ring predicted well the discrepancies between NICS(max)σzz and ELFσ. The σ aromatic order of the classic heterobenzenes (C5H5N > C6H6 > C5H5P > C5H5As > C5H5Bi, C5H5Sb) was proved via the level of electronic delocalization.