Benzophenones, 2-benzoylthiophenes, 2-benzoylpyrroles, and 2-benzoylfurans, which have substituents at m-and p-positions of the benzoyl ring were prepared and their ir and nmr spectra were obtained in 0.1 M chloroform-d solution. The chemical shift values of each series were plotted against the Hammett substituent parameters to give good correlation, with the exception of the ortho-Hs and -Cs. The slopes as well as the differences in chemical shift gave sets of meaningful values for the indices of aromaticy.J. Heterocyclic Chem., 40, 763(2003).There are a variety of methods for estimating the aromaticity of five-membered monoheterocyclic compounds, namely thiophene, furan, and pyrrole. The degree of aromaticity is typically compared to that of benzene whose aromaticity index is set as 1 [1]. A set of aromaticity indices of 1.00, 0.75, 0.59, and 0.46 were reported for benzene, thiophene, pyrrole, and furan, respectively, by comparison of the ring currents measured by the chemical shifts of the protons [2]. Consideration of bond length and the number of π electrons in the ring gives a different set of the indices: benzene 1, thiophene 0.93, pyrrole 0.91, and furan 0.87 [3]. There are a number of sets of the indices reported in the literature [1][2][3].We have reported a method of estimating the aromaticity index by comparing the chemical shifts of the carbonyl carbon atoms of m-and p-substituted phenyl esters of the five-membered heterocyclic carboxylic acids to those of benzoic acids [4]. The results were: benzene 1.00, thiophene 0.85, and furan 0.75 in dimethyl sulfoxide-d 6 ; and benzene 1.00, thiophene 0.90, and furan 0.78 in chlorof o r m -d. A similar approach with m-and p-s u b s t i t u t e d anilides gave a slightly different set of the indices: benzene 1.00, thiophene 0.79, and furan 0.52 in dimethyl sulfoxided 6 [5]. The poor solubilities of the anilides in chloroformd did not allow determination of a set of indices in that solvent. Our effort to estimate the index of aromaticity of pyrrole by similar method was not successful because of the difficulty of preparing the ester, m-and p-substituted phenyl 2-pyrrolecarboxylates and the 2-pyrrolylanilides. These esters and amides were very difficult to purify because they hydrolyze readily.In order to complete the estimation of the aromaticity indices of the five-membered monoheterocyclic compounds under the same conditions we needed to have sets of substituted phenyl derivatives of the heterocycles for thiophene, pyrrole and furan. Therefore, we prepared the benzoyl derivatives of the heterocycles and obtained their NMR spectra. This paper reports the results of our attempts to obtain the indices of aromaticity.
Results and Discussions.The m-and p-substituted benzoyl compounds 1-4 were prepared by Friedel-Crafts benzoylation of benzene, thiophene, pyrrole, and furan in 30-85% yields. The ketones were purified by either recrystallization or column chromatography. Their ir, nmr, and mass spectra were consistent with the desired structures. Positions 3-, 4-, an...