Are nucleus-independent (NICS) and 1H NMR chemical shifts good indicators of aromaticity in π-stacked polyfluorenes?

We have analyzed the change of local aromaticity in a series of polyfluorene compounds with the increase of the number of π-stacked layers. The local aromaticity of the aromatic and non-aromatic rings of polyfluorenes remains unchanged when going from one to four layers of π-stacked rings according to HOMA, PDI, and FLU aromaticity descriptors. On the contrary, experimental 1H NMR chemical shifts indicate a reduction of the aromaticity of π-stacked rings with the increase of the number of layers. Calculated NICS also show a change of aromaticity, but opposite to the tendency given by the 1H NMR chemical shifts. We show that this increase (decrease) of local aromaticity in superimposed aromatic rings indicated by NICS (1H NMR) is not real but the result of the coupling between the magnetic fields generated by the π-stacked rings.