Ring Currents in Aromatic Molecules

Abstract

Pauling's semiclassical model, in which the diamagnetic susceptibility of an aromatic molecule is attributed to ring currents, is re‐examined. The ring currents in a family of hexagonal polycyclic systems are inferred from quantum‐mechanical calculations and are compared with the semiclassical estimates. The Pauling model is found to be unsatisfactory for systems containing more than two or three rings, giving currents which are much too large.