Clar islands are found not so much in an ocean, but in a type of molecule known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). One member of this class, graphene, is attracting a lot of attention recently as a potential material for use in computer chips. Clar coined the term in 1972 to explain the properties of PAHs, and the background is covered in a recent article by Fowler and co-workers (DOI: 10.1039/b604769f). The concept is illustrated by the following hydrocarbon:
Posts Tagged ‘Clar islands’
Clar islands in a π Cloud
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009A molecule with an identity crisis: Aromatic or anti-aromatic?
Monday, April 13th, 2009In 1988, Wilke[cite]10.1002/anie.198801851[/cite] reported molecule 1
![A [24] annulene. Click on image for model.](http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/gaytab.jpg "gaytab")
A 24-annulene. Click for 3D.
It was a highly unexpected outcome of a nickel-catalyzed reaction and was described as a 24-annulene with an unusual 3D shape. Little attention has been paid to this molecule since its original report, but the focus has now returned! The reason is that a 24- annulene belongs formally to a class of molecule with 4n (n=6) π-electrons, and which makes it antiaromatic according to the (extended) Hückel rule. This is a select class of molecule, of which the first two members are cyclobutadiene and cyclo-octatetraene. The first of these is exceptionally reactive and unstable and is the archetypal anti-aromatic molecule. The second is not actually unstable, but it is reactive and conventional wisdom has it that it avoids the undesirable antiaromaticity by adopting a highly non-planar tub shape and hence instead adopts reactive non-aromaticity. Both these examples have localized double bonds, a great contrast with the molecule which sandwiches them, cyclo-hexatriene (i.e. benzene). The reason for the resurgent interest is that a number of crystalline, apparently stable, antiaromatic molecules have recently been discovered, and ostensibly, molecule 1 belongs to this select class!