Topological analysis of the electron density and of the electron localization function of pyrene and its radicals

The topological properties of the charge distribution of pyrene and the three derived monoradicals in their ground state and of didehydrogenated pyrenes in the lowest singlet and triplet electronic states are discussed in detail by means of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (TAIM) and by the electron localization function (ELF). The non-equivalence of the fused aromatic rings of pyrene prevents one from anticipating the stability and reactivity of these species from the chemistry of didehydrogenated species derived from benzene only. Whereas some of these didehydrogenated molecules were found to display a diradical character in the singlet ground state, the topological analysis reveals that others correspond to normal closed shells. Using these theoretical tools, the energetic and geometric details of o-, m- and p-benzyne-like pyrene derivatives are explained.