Full Geometry Optimizations of Bond-Stretch Isomers of C₂₀²⁺ Fullerene Dication by the Hybrid Density Functional B3LYP Methods

We studied the relative stability and atomic structure of five $C_{20}^{2+}$ isomers obtained by two-electron ionization of a $C_{20}$ cage (the smallest fullerene). All the isomers are bond-stretch isomers, i.e., they differ in bond length. In particular, in one of the isomers with Ih symmetry, all the bond lengths are equal. Full geometry optimizations of the dipositive ion $C_{20}^{2+}$ were performed using the hybrid density functional (B3LYP/6-31G(d)) methods. All isomers were found to be true minima by frequency analysis at the level of B3LYP/6-31G(d) under the reinforced tight convergence criterion and a pruned (99,590) grid. The zero-point correction energy for the cage bond-stretch isomers was in the increasing order $D_{2h}<C_{2h}<C_2<T_h<I_h$ of $C_{20}^{2+}$. The energy difference among the isomers of cage dipositive ions was less than that among neutral cage isomers. Our results suggest that these isomers show bond-stretch isomerism and that they have an identical spin state and an identical potential energy curve. Although the predominant electronic configurations of the isomers are similar, the frontier orbital characteristics are different, implying that we could anticipate an entirely different set of characteristic chemical reactions for each type of HOMO and LUMO.