Cyclooctatetraene is an 8p electron system and has a triplet ground state if the p electrons are delocalized. It is antiaromatic hence highly unstable and reactive. It adopts a non-planar boat conformation to attain stability with alternating single and double bonds and hence behaves like a polyolefin. Cyclooctatetraene (COT) is a nonaromatic 4n π-conjugated system with a non-planar tub-shaped geometry and potential energy surfaces at the ground state.