Functional-group and substituent effects, both steric and electronic, upon the ultraviolet absorption spectra of some conjugated heteroenoid compounds

The positions of the long-wavelength maxima in the spectra of some 300 compounds of generalized formula I may be accommodated by assuming that the observed maximum is equal to that of styrene + Δλ (the conjugative effect of A) + Δλ′ (the inductive effect of B) + ΣΔλ″ (the sum of the steric effects of the A, B, and phenyl groups) + D (an empirical parameter related to X and Y). These arguments have been extended to the spectra of II. Δλ′ is related to the σ value for meta-substituted benzene derivatives or to σ*. D for meta- and [Formula: see text]para-substituted derivatives roughly correlates with the appropriate σ+ values, whereas D for ortho-substituted derivatives is related to a simple function involving the D value for para substitution and the steric substituent constant, ES. For compounds of generalized formula III, the electronic effects of the A and B groups cancel but the steric effects are additive.Multiple bands occur in the long-wavelength region of the spectra for compounds containing halogen, alkoxy, or amino groups. These groups are highly polarizable and are considered to function both as electron donors and electron sinks.