Enhancement of Antiaromatic Character via Additional Benzoannulation into Dibenzo[<i>a</i>,<i>f</i>]pentalene: Syntheses and Properties of Benzo[<i>a</i>]naphtho[2,1‑<i>f</i>]pentalene and Dinaphtho[2,1‑<i>a</i>,<i>f</i>]pentalene

Understanding the structure–property relationships in antiaromatic molecules is crucial for controlling their electronic properties and designing new organic optoelectronic materials. Dibenzo­[a,f]­pentalene, a structural isomer of dibenzopentalene, displays open-shell and antiaromatic character harmonization, which is not shared by the well-known isomer, dibenzo­[a,e]­pentalene. The next questions of interest concern the topological effects of the π-extension on the harmonization of the open-shell and antiaromatic character in the dibenzo­[a,f]­pentalene π-system. Herein, we describe the synthesis and characterization of the π-extended (bis)­annulated analogues, benzo­[a]­naphtho­[2,1-f]­pentalene 4 and dinaphtho­[2,1-a,f]­pentalene 5. The solid-state structures and the magnetic and optoelectronic properties characterized these π-extended analogues as closed-shell antiaromatic molecules, in sharp contrast with dibenzo­[a,f]­pentalene 2. In these π-extended analogues, the open-shell character was annihilated whereas the antiaromatic character was retained. The fusion of additional hexagons into 2 shifted the main 4nπ-conjugated circuit from a global to a local system. Further investigations into magnetic ring currents using gauge-including magnetically induced current (GIMIC) calculations suggested that an enhanced local paratropic ring current appeared in the pentalene core of 5. The preservation of the benzenoid character in the additionally fused hexagons confined the paratropicity to the pentalene subunit, and the inherent presence of an o-quinoidal structure highlighted the 4nπ-electron delocalization on the pentalene unit. The antiaromaticity of 4 and 5 was characterized by their small HOMO–LUMO energy gap. Both experimental and computational results demonstrated that the [a,f]-type ring fusion of the pentalene core effectively enhanced the antiaromatic character compared with the [a,e]-type ring fusion in the reported bisannulated­[a,e]­pentalenes. The findings of this study could potentially be used for the rational design of optoelectronic devices based on novel antiaromatic molecules