—Results Published in Nature Chemistry

A research team led by Yonsei Chemistry Professor Kim Dong-ho has provided evidence to prove Baird’s Rule, a forty-year-old principle concerning the reversal of aromaticity of molecules. In organic chemistry, aromaticity refers to the unusually stable nature of certain flat rings of atoms, and Professor Kim’s team was able to demonstrate the reversal of aromaticity in two closely related molecules called bis-rhodium hexaphyrins.

According to Professor Kim, “The reason this research is remarkable is that a phenomenon of the reverse of molecule aromaticity has been identified for the first time, while the experiment results were corroborated through quantum chemical calculations.” The research results were published April 13 in the online version of Nature Chemistry with the title “Reversal of Hückel (anti)aromaticity in the lowest triplet states of hexaphyrins and spectroscopic evidence for Baird’s rule.”