STRUCTURE AND STABILITY OF C24 AND B12N12 ISOMERS

The structure and stability of four possible isomers of C24 and B12N12 have been investigated by means of ab initio calculations at the MP2/DZP level. The four geometries are a monocyclic ring, a graphite-like sheet and two fullerene structures. For C24 it is found that the graphite-like isomer is lowest in energy, while a B12N12 fullerene consisting of 4- and 6-membered rings appears to be quite stable. It is possible that this fullerene plays the same role for boron nitride as C60 does for carbon.