A diamond ring sparks a paradigm shift

The sweet smell of benzene gave birth to the term ‘aromatic’ molecules, but it is the chemical bonds within these compounds that have fascinated researchers for almost 200 years. Encasing alternating double- and single-bonded carbon atoms inside a flat ring allows so-called ‘pi’-electrons to delocalize and move around the cyclic framework. And thanks to the curious rules of quantum mechanics, this pi-electron sharing has radical consequences for differently sized rings.

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A diamond ring sparks a paradigm shift