Is Cyclopropenone Aromatic or Not?

Chemistry
Is cyclopropenone aromatic? Before reading on, try to anticipate the answer to that question. When most students think of aromatic, they think of simple hydrocarbons—compounds composed of hydrogen and carbon atoms only. The best known example of an aromatic hydrocarbon is the 6-sided cyclic compound benzene—C₆H₆. Benzene, if drawn according to classical structures, has alternating single and double bonds between carbon atoms. Basic Qualifications for Aromaticity A double bond consists of one sigma (σ) and one pi (π) bond. If the ring is single rather than multiple (as, for instance, for naphthalene, which is comprised of two fused rings), and if it has 4n+2 completely conjugated π electrons in a closed loop or ring, is neutral, and is flat, the structure obeys Hückel’s rule and will be aromatic. There are…
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The Aromatic Cyclopentadienyl Anion

Chemistry, Education
[caption id="attachment_16480" align="alignright" width="440"] Cyclopentadienyl Anion[/caption] Is it possible that for an ion to be aromatic? Yes. Consider the aromatic cyclopentadienyl anion. Hückel’s Rule dictates a flat ring with 4n + 2 π (pi) conjugated electrons. The smallest neutral ring with these qualifications has n = 1. It is benzene (C₆H₆). But Hückel’s law does not require an electronically neutral structure. The smallest aromatic ion is the cyclopropenyl cation¹ (C₃H₃⁺). Is there a negative ion that has 6 π electrons and is aromatic? The answer is yes. The aromatic cyclopentadienyl anion (C₅H₅⁻). Neutral Cyclopentadiene Neutral cyclopentadiene is flat. It is pentagon shaped. Three of the carbon-carbon bonds are single bonds. The other two are double bonds. At each of the four ends of the two double bonds there is one…
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