DFT Study of the Monocyclic and Bicyclic Ring Geometries of C20

The monocyclic and bicyclic ring geometries of C20 are optimized using both the local density functional approximation (LDA) and gradient-corrected density functional theory (BLYP). The energy of the bicyclic ring is found to be higher than that of the monocyclic ring in both LDA and BLYP calculations. The BLYP results confirm the previous single point calculation based on Hartree-Fock geometries[1], which is in favor of the monocyclic ring geometry, while the LDA results still favor the cage geometry. LDA frequencies of both ring geometries are also presented.