Observation of SOMO-HOMO Inversion in a Neutral Polycyclic Conjugated Hydrocarbon
Shantanu Mishra, Manuel Vilas‐Varela, Shadi Fatayer, Florian Albrecht, Diego Peña, Leo Groß
Abstract
We report the generation of a nonbenzenoid polycyclic conjugated hydrocarbon, which consists of a biphenyl moiety substituted by indenyl units at the 4,4' positions, on ultrathin sodium chloride films by tip-induced chemistry. Single-molecule characterization by scanning tunneling and atomic force microscopy reveals an open-shell biradical ground state with a peculiar electronic configuration wherein the singly occupied molecular orbitals (SOMOs) are lower in energy than the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO).
Topics & Concepts
Conjugated systemInversion (geology)Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbonHydrocarbonChemistryEnvironmental chemistryGeologyOrganic chemistryPaleontologyPolymerStructural basinNMR spectroscopy and applicationsAdvanced NMR Techniques and Applications