Can Baird's and Clar's Rules Combined Explain Triplet State Energies of Polycyclic Conjugated Hydrocarbons with Fused 4nπ- and (4n + 2)π-Rings?

Compounds that can be labeled as "aromatic chameleons" are π-conjugated compounds that are able to adjust their π-electron distributions so as to comply with the different rules of aromaticity in different electronic states. We used quantum chemical calculations to explore how the fusion of benzene rings onto aromatic chameleonic units represented by biphenylene, dibenzocyclooctatetraene, and dibenzo[a,e]pentalene modifies the first triplet excited states (T) of the compounds. Decreases in T energies are observed when going from isomers with linear connectivity of the fused benzene rings to those with cis- or trans-bent connectivities. The T energies decreased down to those of the parent (isolated) 4nπ-electron units. Simultaneously, we observe an increased influence of triplet state aromaticity of the central 4n ring as given by Baird's rule and evidenced by geometric, magnetic, and electron density based aromaticity indices (HOMA, NICS-XY, ACID, and FLU). Because of an influence of triplet state aromaticity in the central 4nπ-electron units, the most stabilized compounds retain the triplet excitation in Baird π-quartets or octets, enabling the outer benzene rings to adapt closed-shell singlet Clar π-sextet character. Interestingly, the T energies go down as the total number of aromatic cycles within a molecule in the T state increases.