Ring of pure carbon stabilised by its catenane connections

Chemists have produced a new ring molecule of pure carbon that is stable enough to be studied in solution – as long as it is hooked up with other rings.

We know pure carbon as diamond, graphite, graphene and fullerenes. Now the University of Oxford team of Harry Anderson with Yueze Gao and others has produced the first pure carbon ring that is stable enough to be bottled and investigated using conventional spectroscopy methods.