An international team of researchers including UT Austin chemist Jonathan Sessler has created the first compound that exhibits bicyclic aromaticity in its ground state. These types of compounds had been theorized decades ago but had remained elusive until now. The authors speculate that these compounds “may have a role to play in extending the frontiers of aromaticity beyond the conceptual limits associated with the topographically planar Hückel and Möbius formulations.” Other UT Austin team members were Zhan Zhang, Xian-Sheng Ke and Vincent Lynch. The team also included researchers from Yonsei University (South Korea), the National Institute of Science Education and Research (India), Sookmyung Women’s University (South Korea) and Ewha Womans University (South Korea),
X-ray diffraction structure of the bicycloaromatic molecule
Read the paper in the July 31 edition of the journal Nature Chemistry: Bicyclic Baird-type aromaticity