Molecular aromaticity: a quantum phenomenon

26 March 2025, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

To celebrate the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ), we discuss how the concept of aromaticity emerges from the postulates of quantum mechanics. Based on this discussion, we analyze the case of cyclo[18]carbon, a molecule that was characterized for the first time in 2019 in a scanning tunneling microscope. From the very beginning, this molecule was classified as an aromatic molecule. In the present work, we challenge this classification and provide arguments to classify this molecule as a non-aromatic species.

Keywords

C18
aromaticity
resonance structures
electron delocalization

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