The theme of the last three posts derives from the recently reported claimed experimental observation of bond length alternation (BLA) in cyclo[18]carbon, a ring of just 18 carbon atoms.[cite]10.1126/science.aay1914[/cite] Having found that different forms of quantum calculation seem to find this property particularly difficult to agree upon, not only for cyclocarbon but for twisted lemniscular annulenes (which contain CH rather than just C
Carbon allotropes built from rings of two-coordinate atoms, known as cyclo[ n ]carbons, have fascinated chemists for many years, but until now they could not be isolated or structurally characterized because of their high reactivity. We generated cyclo[18]carbon (C 18 ) using atom manipulation on bilayer NaCl on Cu(111) at 5 kelvin by eliminating carbon monoxide from a cyclocarbon oxide molecule, C 24 O 6 . Characterization of cyclo[18]carbon by high-resolution atomic force microscopy revealed a polyynic structure with defined positions of alternating triple and single bonds. The high reactivity of cyclocarbon and cyclocarbon oxides allows covalent coupling between molecules to be induced by atom manipulation, opening an avenue for the synthesis of other carbon allotropes and carbon-rich materials from the coalescence of cyclocarbon molecules.