Nanographenes
Scholl reaction and nanographene synthesis

Diamond and graphite are the two most common allotropic forms of carbon (figure 1). In diamond, each carbon atom is tetrahedral (sp³ hybridized) and thus covalently bonded to four neighboring atoms. Graphite, on the other hand, is a stack of parallel sheets composed of trigonal (sp²-hybridized) carbon atoms bonded to just three neighboring coplanar atoms, creating a hexagonal tiling of the surface of each sheet. In graphite, each carbon atom contributes an additional delocalized electron, which is the source of the material's electrical conduction properties, unlike diamond, whose electrons are all localized in the carbon-carbon bonds, making it an...