The conjugate base of pyrrole is resonance stabilized
the verdict
REFUTED
the evidence says no
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
0 sources for · 1 against
AS REPORTEDno primary record reached; this is what the reporting says
Chemical discussion indicates that the conjugate base of pyrrole lacks a reasonable amount of resonance stabilization due to the orientation of its lone pair orbital.
# Is the conjugate base of pyrrole resonance stabilised?
- Tags: organic-chemistry, acid-base, aromatic-compounds, heterocyclic-compounds
- Score: 7
- Views: 1,987
- Answers: 2
- Asked by: gamma1 (1,130 rep)
- Asked on: Jun 5, 2017
- Last active: Jul 12, 2017
- License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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## Question
This is something I am conceptually struggling with, if I deprotonate pyrrole on the nitrogen in the ring, is it true that the conjugate base is not resonance stabilised, because the orbital is orthogonal to the ring? However, with a p_K_a of 23, I feel like it must have some resonance stabilisation.
[](https://i.sstatic.net/yF6Fg.png)
[](https://i.sstatic.net/BWZNC.png)
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## Answer 1 — Score: 3
- By: Martin - マーチン (45,215 rep)
- Answered on: Jun 12, 2017
There is like you assumed no reasonable amount of resonance stabilisation. However, the aromatic π-system contributes to the stability of σ-skeleton.
Below you can find the MO of pyrrole and its N-deprotonated anion (click it to enlarge). You can see that in MO 17 the electron density is shifted fu