Chapter 8, Problem 8.115MP

Cyclooctatetraenedian ion, ${\text{C}}_{\text{8}}{\text{H}}_{\text{8}}{}^{\text{2}-}$ , is an organic ion with the structure shown. Considering only the $\pi$ bonds and not the $\sigma$ bonds, cyclooctatetraenedianion can be described by the following energy diagrams of its $\pi$ molecular orbitals:

(a) What is the hybridization of the 8 carbon atoms?
(b) Three of the $\pi$ molecular orbitals are bonding, three are anti bonding, and two are non bonding, meaning that they have the same energy level as isolated p orbitals.Which is which?
(c) Complete the MO energy diagram by assigning the appropriate numbers of p electrons to the various molecular orbitals, indicating the electrons using up/down arrows $\left(\uparrow \downarrow \right)$ .
(d) Based on your MO energy diagram, is the dianion paramagnetic or diamagnetic?