Four Criteria for Aromaticity

When deciding if a compound is aromatic, go through the following checklist. If the compound does not meet all the following criteria, it is likely not aromatic.

1. The molecule is cyclic (a ring of atoms)
2. The molecule is planar (all atoms in the molecule lie in the same plane)
3. The molecule is fully conjugated (p orbitals at every atom in the ring)
4. The molecule has 4n+2 π electrons (n=0 or any positive integer)