[18]annulene

Cyclooctadecanonaene or [18]annulene is an organic compound with chemical formula . It belongs to the class of highly conjugated compounds known as annulenes and is aromatic. The usual isomer that [18]annulene refers to is the most stable one, containing six interior hydrogens and twelve exterior ones, with the nine formal double bonds in the cis,trans,trans,cis,trans,trans,cis,trans,trans configuration. It is reported to be a red-brown crystalline solid.

==Aromaticity== Notably, [18]annulene is the first annulene after benzene ([6]annulene) to be fully aromatic: its π-system contains 4n + 2 electrons (n = 4), and it is large enough to comfortably accommodate six hydrogen atoms in its interior, allowing it to adopt a planar shape, thus satisfying Hückel's rule. The discovery of aromatic stabilization for [18]annulene is historically significant for confirming earlier theoretical predictions based on molecular orbital theory, since simple versions of valence bond theory did not readily explain the 4n + 2 rule.