Unraveling the Push-Pull Effect in Acenes, Polyenes and Polyynes.

Substituent effects (SEs) are fundamental for predicting molecular reactivity, while polyene, polyyne and acene derivatives are precursors to compounds with diverse applications. Computations were performed for Y-R-X systems, where reaction sites Y=NO2 and O- , substituents X=NO2 , CN, Cl, H, OH, NH2 , and spacers R=polyene, polyyne (n=1-5, 10 repeating units) and acene (up to tetracene). The cSAR (charge of the substituent active region) approach allowed to present, for the first time, quantitative relations describing the spacer's electron-donating and withdrawing properties as a function of n and the spacer type. The electronic properties of the X substituents depend on the type of spacer, its length and the Y group, which is an example of the reverse SE. To describe how the SE between Y and X weakens with n, two approaches were compared: cSAR and SESE (SE stabilization energy). The EDDB (electron density of delocalized bonds) characterize changes in electron delocalization in spacers due to the SE. A new approach - EDDB differential maps - allow to extract the effect of X substitution on the electron delocalization. The charges at spacer's C atoms correlate with cSAR; changes in the slopes confirm the charge transfer by resonance.

Substituent Effects from the Point of View of Energetics and Molecular Geometry in Acene, Polyene, and Polyyne Derivatives.

The substituent effect (SE) is one of the most important topics in organic chemistry and related fields, and Hammett constants (σ) are commonly used to describe it. The results of the computational studies carried out for Y-R-X systems (reaction sites Y = NO2, O-; substituents X = NO2, CN, Cl, H, OH, NH2; spacers R = polyene, polyyne, acene with n = 1-5 repeatable units) show that the substituent properties depend significantly on n, the type of R, and Y. Results of the analysis of the substituent effect stabilization energy and geometrical parameters of the Y-R-X systems reveal that (i) the SE strength and its inductive and resonance components decay with the increase in spacer length, its weakening depends on the Y and R type; quantitative relations describing decay are presented; (ii) the ratio between inductive and resonance effect strength changes with n and depends on Y; (iii) differences in the substituents' properties are examples of reverse SE; (iv) in general, structural parameters are mutually well correlated as well as with the SE descriptors; (v) due to the strong O- resonance effect, the changes in π-electron delocalization within R are well correlated with the SE strength only for Y = O- systems.

Conjugation paths in monosubstituted 1,2- and 2,3-naphthoquinones.

Optimization of monosubstituted (X = NO, NO(2), CN, CHO, Me, OMe, OH, NH(2), NHMe, and N(Me)(2)) derivatives of 1,2- and 2,3-naphthoquinone by use of B3LYP with the 6-311+G** basis set applying the GAUSSIAN03 program allowed us to analyze the character of interactions between the substituents and the carbonyl groups. It is shown that only one of two carbonyl groups exhibited substantial substituent effect evidenced by regression of the CO bond length and delocalization index, DI(CO) on the Hammett substituent constants, σ(p), with a very high correlation coefficient, whereas the other one did not depend in any substantial way on σ(p). Dependences of conjugation path built up of bonds between substituent and oxygen atoms of carbonyl groups on σ(p), give more acceptable correlations if the number of bonds in the path is even than in cases when they are odd.