Question

What are antiaromatic compounds?

Answer 1

Antiaromatic compounds are compounds that have `4n` `pi` electrons delocalized in a ring.

Explanation:

Just as aromatic compounds have a special stability, antiaromatic have an inherent instability. `"1,3-cyclobutadiene"` is the exemplar, and a lot of organic chemists spent a lot of time and effort in synthesizing this molecule; it has a lifetime of seconds even at low temperature.