Interactions between cyclic carbon clusters

This work reports on the results of MINDO/3 calculations of the structures and energies of monocyclic and bicyclic carbon clusters. Interactions between the rings and between the cyclic and linear clusters are considered For the most typical reactions (cyclization of linear clusters and insertion of chains into rings and formation of bicyclic structures), the energy barriers are estimated. The bond energies of the bicyclic structures depend on the parities of the initial rings. The most stable configurations with bond energies of the order of 5 eV result from coupling of the odd-membered rings. It is shown that typical condensation conditions correspond to the absorption of the linear clusters by the cyclic structures.