Talk:Tetrahydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone

Antiaromatic

The tetraanion formed by this compound has 4 pi electrons and should therefore be antiaromatic per Hückel's rule, not aromatic like rhodizonate is. That’s why the experimental results (observing diamagnetism in the salts, with the anion being highly symmetrical) seem strange to me.

I’m not doubting what the scientists saw, but it seems likely that something else is going on; perhaps the compound they isolated was actually a rhodizonate salt of K₄⁺² (i.e., a poly-alkali cation). If true, this would explain why it was so easily oxidized to the paramagnetic intermediate and ultimately to the rhodizonate. LonelyBoy2012 (talk) 04:21, 29 January 2024 (UTC)