Diamond 8: visualising the carbon ring of cyclohexane

Further inspection of the diamond unit cell reveals that it contains many six-membered carbon rings. All of these rings have the same conformation, namely the "chair" conformation. This is the same conformation as is found for the six-membered carbon ring in cyclohexane in its most stable state. Zinc blende, whose structure is analogous to diamond's, also has only chair conformations with its six-membered rings. One difference, however, between this structure and its hexagonal analogue, found in wurtzite or ice for example, is that in the hexagonal structures, not all of the six-membered rings are of chair type: these structures also contain rings with the so-called "boat" conformation. In the unit cell of diamond on the left, the chair conformation is highlighted in red. By rotating the structure with your mouse you should be able to appreciate why it is called the chair conformation.

Go to page 9 to look at how the carbon backbone of adamantane can be seen within the diamond unit cell.

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