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Line bond structure of benzene [5] Electron flow through p orbitals showing the aromatic nature of benzene [5] Benzene, C 6 H 6, is the least complex aromatic hydrocarbon, and it was the first one defined as such. [6] Its bonding nature was first recognized independently by Joseph Loschmidt and August Kekulé in the 19th century. [6]
Because it contains only carbon and hydrogen atoms, benzene is classed as a hydrocarbon. Benzene is a natural constituent of petroleum and is one of the elementary petrochemicals. Due to the cyclic continuous pi bonds between the carbon atoms, benzene is classed as an aromatic hydrocarbon.
Two different resonance forms of benzene (top) combine to produce an average structure (bottom). In organic chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property describing the way in which a conjugated ring of unsaturated bonds, lone pairs, or empty orbitals exhibits a stabilization stronger than would be expected by the stabilization of conjugation alone.
In the petroleum refining and petrochemical industries, the initialism BTX refers to mixtures of benzene, toluene, and the three xylene isomers, all of which are aromatic hydrocarbons. The xylene isomers are distinguished by the designations ortho – (or o –), meta – (or m –), and para – (or p –) as indicated in the adjacent diagram.
Aromatic compounds, almost uniquely for hydrocarbons, undergo substitution reactions. The chemical process practiced on the largest scale is the reaction of benzene and ethene to give ethylbenzene :
Aromatization is a chemical reaction in which an aromatic system is formed from a single nonaromatic precursor. Typically aromatization is achieved by dehydrogenation of existing cyclic compounds, illustrated by the conversion of cyclohexane into benzene. Aromatization includes the formation of heterocyclic systems. [1]
Clar's rule states that for a benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (i.e. one with only hexagonal rings), the resonance structure with the largest number of disjoint aromatic π-sextets is the most important to characterize its chemical and physical properties. Such a resonance structure is called a Clar structure. In other words, a ...
Simple aromatic rings can be heterocyclic if they contain non-carbon ring atoms, for example, oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur. They can be monocyclic as in benzene, bicyclic as in naphthalene, or polycyclic as in anthracene. Simple monocyclic aromatic rings are usually five-membered rings like pyrrole or six-membered rings like pyridine.