Winter Olympics: Scientists find a new way to synthesize olympicene, the Olympic ring molecule

Olympicene molecule

A team of researchers at the Florida State University unveiled a new way to synthesize the olympicene molecule which looks the same as the Olympic rings.

Olympicene- the molecule resembling Olympic rings

Olympicene molecule is the compound of carbon and hydrogen atoms (C19H12) having five rings which give it a shape resembling that of the Olympic rings. This molecule was first unveiled before the commencement of 2012 London Olympics by a team of British chemists.

Olympicene (C19H12)

The molecule is used for high tech LEDs, solar cells, sophisticated sensors, information and energy storage etc.

The synthesis

The synthesis of the olympicene molecule let the chemists recognize the connection they held with graphene- an allotrope of carbon consisting a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in the hexagonal frame.

In the new technique, an additional hexagonal ring of carbon atoms is fused to the zigzag edge of an existing carbon-rich molecule in two quick steps. Image credit: Igor Alabugin.

The new strategy will boost up the synthesis of the molecule as the new method is only two-step long and take much shorter time than the previous method.

Our success in developing this strategy allowed us to accomplish a two-step synthesis that is much shorter than the previously reported route, even though both methods used the same starting material
- said team leader Professor Igor Alabugin, from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University

Olympicene and 2018 Winter Olympics of Pyeongchang

Publishing this new synthesis of olympicene just in time for the Winter Olympics is indeed a fortunate coincidence.
- Professor Alabugin

To honour the 2018 Winter Olympics, the authors named the synthesis strategy as Ph-olympicene. The P reflects both the phenyl group and a subtle nod to the host city Pyeongchang.



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