Phosphole aromaticity enhancement by electron pumping through Schleyer hyperconjugative aromaticity: A comprehensive DFT study

Combination of aromaticity and hyperconjugation as two fundamental concepts in organic chemistry results hyperconjugative aromaticity. Due to trigonal pyramidal P (III) atom in phosphole ring, it is only slightly more aromatic than cyclopentadiene. In the present work, the hyperconjugative aromaticity of phosphole derivatives, bearing an electron donating group, have been studied at the DFT-B3LYP/6–311++G(d, p) level of theory using various aromaticity indices such as geometric, magnetic, electronic and energetic criteria. Our DFT calculations reveal that an electropositive substituent can enhance phosphole aromaticity through Schleyer hyperconjugative aromaticity. This hyperconjugative electron donation by the substituents results in a partially anionic phosphole ring. Among the electropositive groups, silyl and germanium substituents have the best performance. The excellent correlations are observed between all aromaticity indices. Our findings could help chemists to design novel hyperconjugative aromatic phospholes.