Thiophene 1-oxides.V. Comparison of the crystal structures and thiophene ring aromaticity of 2,5-diphenylthiophene, its sulfoxide and sulfone

The detailed preparation of 2,5-diphenylthiophene 1-oxide (2) is reported as well as the comparative study of the crystal structures of 2,5-diphenylthiophene, 1, its sulfoxide 2 and sulfone 3 obtained by X-ray diffraction. This work represents the first experimental study of a complete heterocyclic series, including a thiophene derivative, and the corresponding sulfoxide and sulfone. On the basis of the geometrical parameters, the first unequivocal experimental parameters obtained for a thiophene 1-oxide derivative, we have also examined the evolution of the aromatic character of the thiophene ring when oxidizing the sulfur atom to the sulfoxide and the sulfone. Paolini's bond orders and Julg and Francois's aromaticity indices have also been calculated for the three compounds and compared to those previously calculated for related thiophene derivatives by semi-empirical or ab initio methods [6], [7]. All the data examined showed that, in spite of its non planarity, the thiophene ring of 2,5-diphenylthiophene 1-oxide 2 could still exhibit some de localization of its p electrons indicating a certain degree of aromaticity lower than in thiophene 1 but higher than in the sulfone 3.