Answer:
Benzene is an aromatic compound because it is planar, cyclic, conjugated and has (4n +2) π electrons, where n= 1.
Step-by-step explanation:
Hückel's rule states that a molecule is aromatic if it is planar, cyclic, conjugated and has (4n +2) π electrons.
Breaking it down into 4 requirements, we have:
- planar
- cyclic
- conjugated
- (4n +2) π electrons
Let's look at each of the 4 parts!
What is planar?
Planar refers to the molecule being flat. When an atom is sp² hybridized, it is in a trigonal planar geometry. Let's look at the benzene molecule. Each carbon is attached to 3 other atoms, namely 2 carbons and 1 hydrogen. This means that each carbon is sp² hybridized, making the molecule planar.
Cyclic
This refers to the molecule having a closed ring shape. Benzene fulfils this criteria.
Conjugation
This refers to a system of connected p orbitals, which allows π electrons to delocalize. Each carbon atom in benzene has one 2p orbital, making benzene a conjugated molecule. For molecules that are not cations or anions, conjugated molecules are those that have alternating single and double bonds.
(4n +2) π electrons
n is an integer (e.g. 0, 1, 2, 3) thus for the molecule to be aromatic, it can have 2, 6 or 10 π electrons (non exhaustive). This separates an aromatic compound from an antiaromatic compound, which has 4n π electrons instead.
Benzene has 6 π electrons, so n has a value of 1 in this case.
Thus, benzene is an aromatic compound because it is planar, cyclic, conjugated and has (4n +2) π electrons.
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Counting the number of π electrons
Let's look at π bonds!
A double bond is made up of 1 σ bond and 1 π bond, and each π bond is made up of 2 π electrons. We do not count the number of single bonds since single bonds are made up of 1 σ bond only.
There are 3 double bonds in the Kekulé structure of benzene. Thus, the number of π electrons in benzene is 3(2)= 6.
Attached diagrams
- Kekulé structure of benzene
- sp² hybridized carbon
- 6 p orbitals in benzene ring