Dark‐Red O8 Molecules in Solid Oxygen: Rhomboid Clusters, Not S8‐Like Rings

Abstract

Under pressure and full of surprises: At very high pressure, oxygen molecules O2 combine to give—rather than the well-known crown-shaped ring form of elemental sulfur—the novel molecular unit O8, or (O2)4, which exhibits strong bonds in the diatomic units but with much weaker π*–π* bonds between them (see picture).