Valence Tautomerism and Alkaline Properties of Global Aromatic Imine‐ and Methine‐Bridged all‐Benzenoid Macrocyclic Superpyrazine and Supertriazine

X Xinyue Tian (State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences Department of Chemistry Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science Tianjin University No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District Tianjin 300072 China) Z Zekun Tong (State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science) Y Yi Han T Tingxi Yu (State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science) J Johnathan Joo Cheng Lee (Department of Chemistry National University of Singapore 3 Science Drive 3 Singapore 117543 Singapore) C Chunyan Chi (Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543, Singapore) S Shaoqiang Dong (State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science)

Abstract

Abstract The comprehensive understanding of the ground‐state electronic structures of all‐benzenoid macrocycles and their charged species, particularly those exhibiting global (anti)aromaticity, remains poorly resolved. Here, we present two imine‐ and methine‐bridged all‐benzenoid [6]cyclo‐ para ‐phenylenes SPAZ (superpyrazine) and STAZ (supertriazine)‐designed as π‐extended analogues of 1,4‐pyrazine and 1,3,5‐triazine, respectively. For the first time, we elucidate their unprecedented valence tautomerism between “super‐Kekulé” alternating benzenoid/quinoidal structures and a “super‐sextet” transient structure, mediated by a 30π azaannulene conjugated pathway. The aromatic stabilization energy of global aromatic delocalization would partially counterbalance the energy penalty for disrupting three benzenoid sextets. Further protonation studies demonstrate their alkaline characteristics (p K a  = 0.97 for SPAZ ; 3.27 for STAZ ), with diprotonated SPAZ‐DH and monoprotonated STAZ‐MH adopting planarized geometries that amplify global aromaticity through charge‐induced structural constraints and enhanced π‐electron delocalization. Notably, two‐electron reduction generates a dianion SPAZ‐DA exhibiting 32π electron global antiaromaticity with amine N atom embedded aza[30]annulene pathway. These findings establish a framework for decoding electronic structure property relationships in all‐benzenoid macrocycles, offering insights into aromaticity modulated regulations through tautomerism, protonation, and redox switching.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 64, Issue 28
Published July 07, 2025
ISSN 1433-7851
Publisher Wiley

Journal Info

Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Wiley

ISSN: 1433-7851 Physical Sciences

Authors (7)

X

Xinyue Tian

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences Department of Chemistry Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science Tianjin University No. 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District Tianjin 300072 China

Z

Zekun Tong

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science

Y

Yi Han

T

Tingxi Yu

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science

J

Johnathan Joo Cheng Lee

Department of Chemistry National University of Singapore 3 Science Drive 3 Singapore 117543 Singapore

C

Chunyan Chi

Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543, Singapore

S

Shaoqiang Dong

State Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials for Intelligent Sensing and Key Laboratory of Organic Integrated Circuits, Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Molecular Aggregation Science