Oxylylene

Oxylylene is a hypothetical or theoretical aromatic organic compound with the chemical formula C7H6O. It can be envisioned as a benzene ring with one oxygen atom and six hydrogen atoms, where the oxygen atom is incorporated into the ring structure. This suggests a cycloaddition reaction product or a resonance-stabilized carbene. However, oxylylene is not a stable, isolable molecule under normal conditions and is primarily of academic interest in theoretical chemistry and reaction mechanism studies. Its existence and properties are often explored through computational chemistry and by inferring its behavior as a transient intermediate in specific chemical reactions. Research into such species helps chemists understand reaction pathways, predict the reactivity of related compounds, and design novel synthetic routes. The term itself implies a specific arrangement of atoms and bonding that deviates from common aromatic structures like phenol or anisole. Due to its ephemeral nature, direct experimental observation of oxylylene is challenging, and its properties are largely deduced from theoretical calculations.