Electronic Spectra of Cyclo-Octatetraene, Tetraphenylene, and s-Dibenzcyclo-Octatetraene

Abstract
The electronic transition energies of cyclo‐octatetraene, tetraphenylene and s‐dibenzcyclo‐octatetraene have been calculated by treating each molecule as four separate π‐electron subsystems, the excited configurations of which interact under the influence of the Hamiltonian for the complete system. The calculated transition energies for cyclo‐octatetraene and tetraphenylene are in good agreement with experimental data, while the calculations for s‐dibenzcyclo‐octatetraene suggest that the absorption data for this compound is in error.