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Abstract The symmetry breaking in octahedral silsesquioxane and its germanium analogues (Si₈O₁₂H₈and Ge₈O₁₂H₈) has been investigated using the M06-2X/6-31++G(3df, 3pd) method and group theory. Both structures undergo$${O}_{h}\downarrow {T}_{h}$$symmetry breaking, characterized by pseudo-Jahn−Teller stabilization energies of 0.22 kcal/mol for Si-POSS and 9.82 kcal/mol for Ge-POSS. Under the influence of the pseudo-Jahn–Teller effect, the distortion vector involves the vibrational a_2gmode with imaginary frequency. The distortion forces in O_h-POSS are predominantly localized on the oxygen atoms and driven by the coupling between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (a_1g) and the highest occupied molecular orbital (a_2g). The symmetry breaking is attributed to a pseudo-Jahn–Teller mechanism of type (a_2gx a_1g) = a_2g. The symmetrical substitution of oxygen atoms by X (where X = C, N, P) results in viable T_h-Si₈X₁₂H₈and T_h-Ge₈X₁₂H₈structures. The observed pseudo-Jahn–Teller distortion and substitutional symmetry breaking caused by X indicates a consistent electronic relaxation mechanism, characterized by the formation of C=C, N=N and P=P bonds on the POSS cubic faces, which serves as hallmarks of stability. Additionally, we find that the volume of substituted T_h-symmetrical POSS is sufficiently large to accommodate small ions. 

ABSTRACT The energies and geometries of the lowest lying singlet and triplet states of the four diradicals formed by removing two H atoms from thiophene have been characterized. We utilized the highly correlated, multireference methods configuration interaction with single and double excitations with and without the Pople correction for size‐extensivity (MR‐CISD+Q and MR‐CISD) and averaged quadratic coupled cluster theory (MR‐AQCC). CAS (8,7) and CAS (10,8) active spaces involving σ, σ*, π, and π* orbitals were employed along with the cc‐pVDZ and cc‐pVTZ basis sets. The larger active space included the two electrons in the nonbonding sp²hybrid orbital on sulfur. We find that all didehydro isomers exist as planar, stable ground state singlets. The singlet‐triplet (S‐T) adiabatic gaps range from 15 to 25 kcal/mol while the vertical splittings are 21–35 kcal/mol. The 2,3 isomer has the lowest absolute ground state singlet energy and the largest adiabatic and vertical S‐T splitting. The ground states of the 2,3‐, and 2,5‐didehydrothiophene isomers are predicted to exhibit the smallest and largest diradical character, respectively, based on their electronic structures, spin densities and bonding analysis. To our knowledge, no experimental excitation energies of any of the didehydrothiophene isomers are available, and our computed MR‐AQCC/cc‐pVTZ data are believed to be among the most accurate computed results. This extensive study shows a competitive performance between MR‐AQCC and MR‐CISD+Q.