Katharine Spencer

Advisor:         Dr. Thomas Mitzel

Towards the Formation of Small Homo-conjugated Hydrocarbon Cages

            In recent years, the electronic properties of fully conjugated systems have been investigated as a possible energy storage system. The continuous pi-system allows for the introduction of an electron to the system, indicating potential storage capacity. The delocalization of electrons across an sp³ carbon is known as homo-conjugation and leads to increased stability of neutral systems and the presence of the sp³ carbon increases flexibility of the molecule. The use of platinum also allows for the increased flexibility of the molecule while still allowing full electron delocalization. The synthesis of two small homo-conjugated hydrocarbon cages has been investigated.