aromatic compound

Compounds whose molecules contain the benzene ring, or variations of it, are called aromatic. The term was originally used to distinguish sweet-smelling compounds from others.

Organic chemical compound in which some of the bonding electrons are delocalized (shared among several atoms within the molecule and not localized in the vicinity of the atoms involved in bonding). The commonest aromatic compounds have ring structures, the atoms comprising the ring being either all carbon or mostly carbon with one or more different atoms (usually nitrogen, sulphur, or oxygen). Typical examples are benzene (C₆H₆) and pyridine (C₆H₅N).