Synthesis, characterization, and theory of [9]-, [12]-, and [18]cycloparaphenylene: carbon nanohoop structures

Cyclohexane does not exist in a planar form due to the high angle and torsional strain it would experience in the planar structure. Instead, it adopts non-planar chair and boat conformations.
The chair form is the most stable and derives its name from its resemblance to the “easy chair.” In the chair conformation, two carbon atoms are arranged out-of-plane — one above and one below, minimizing the torsional strain. In the chair form, the bond angle is very close to the ideal...

The chair conformation is the most stable form of cyclohexane due to the absence of angle and torsional strain. The absence of angle strain is a result of cyclohexane’s bond angle being very close to the ideal tetrahedral bond angle of 109.5° in its chair conformer. Similarly, the torsional strain is also absent owing to the perfectly staggered arrangement of bonds.
The hydrogen atoms linked to carbons are arranged in two different axial and equatorial orientations to achieve this...

Neutral hydrocarbons like cyclopentadiene with an odd number of carbon atoms and one intervening CH2 group in the ring are not aromatic. Cyclopentadiene with 4 π electrons does not satisfy the 4n + 2 π electron rule. Additionally, the intervening CH2 group is sp3 hybridized and lacks a vacant p orbital, thereby interrupting the overlap of p orbitals in a continuous manner and preventing the delocalization of π electrons throughout the ring.
Due to the absence of continuous...

Heterocyclic aromatic compounds are cyclic compounds that are aromatic and have one or more heteroatoms—atoms other than carbon, in the ring. Depending upon the number of atoms present in the ring, they can be either five or six-membered. Examples of five-membered heterocyclic aromatic compounds include pyrrole, furan, thiophene, and imidazole. Pyrrole consists of one nitrogen atom having one lone pair of electrons. Furan and thiophene have one oxygen and one sulfur heteroatom,...

The inscribed polygon method is consistent with Hückel’s 4n + 2 rule and helps to learn whether the given cyclic compound is aromatic or not. The compound is stable and aromatic if every bonding molecular orbital (MO) is completely filled with a pair of electrons. However, if the non-bonding or antibonding orbitals are filled with electrons, the compound is unstable and not aromatic. Consider the Frost circle diagrams for cycloalkenes containing 4 to 8 carbons.

Cycloheptatriene is a neutral monocyclic unsaturated hydrocarbon that consists of an odd number of carbon atoms and an intervening sp3 carbon in the ring. The three double bonds in the ring correspond to 6 π electrons, which is a Huckel number, and therefore satisfies the criteria of 4n + 2 π electrons. However, the intervening sp3 carbon disrupts the continuous overlap of p orbitals. As a result, cycloheptatriene is not aromatic.
Removing one hydrogen from the intervening CH2 group...