The electronic structure of some polyenes and aromatic molecules II–The nature of the links of some aromatic molecules

Abstract

In this paper we apply methods similar to those of the preceding paper to the series of cyclic molecules C 2v H 2v , of which cyclobutadiene and benzene are the first members. The question we set out to answer is whether or not these molecules in the state of lowest energy exist as regular polygons. An alternative form is a series of alternating links, as represented by the Kekulé structural formula for benzene. We shall assume as before that the configuration of each such molecule can be specified by two parameters x s and x d , the former referring to a single link and the latter a double link, in the conventional chemical formula.