The vibrational spectra ofmolecules labeled with ' H , I3C, and l80 show that delocatization of double and single bonds in the six-membered ring is complete in all the metal chelates investigated of 2,4-pentanedione (acetylacetone), but not in 2,4-pentanedione itself: Mercury, on the other hand, is bonded to the central C atom of the ligands. The N M R spectra of the metal chelates of 3-mesityl-2,4-pentanedione and 3-anthryl-2,4-pentanedwne show that the chelate rings have no magnetic anisotropy comparable with that of benzene. A critical appraisal is made ofthe questions whether it is at all justifiable to attribute any "aromatic character" to such molecules and why all comparisons with the chemical reactivity of benzene have so far led to controversial conclusions concerning the character of the bonding in the metal chelates of 2,4-pentanedione.Angew. Chem. internat. Edit. / Vol. 10 (1971) / N o . 4 Received: December 18,1970 [A 811 IE] German version: Angew. Chem. 83,239 (1971) Translated by Express Translation Service, London [I] Benzenoid, nonbenzenoid, and antiaromatic systems, like homoaromatic and bicycloaromatic systems, are terms that are fixed by theory. (Aromaticity. Spec. Publ. Chem. SOC. London, No. 21, 1967.) Quasiaromatic and pseudoaromatic systems have been clearly defined by D. M. G. Lloyd and D. R. Marshall, Chem. Ind. (London) 1964,1760, but many chemists regard these as partly aromatic.[Z] J . A. Eluidge and L. M . Jackman, J. Chem. SOC. 1961, 859; J . A. Eluidge, Chem. Commun. 1965, 160: 2-pyridone 35%, furan 46%, pyrrole 59%, thiophene 75%.