On the Clar number of benzenoid graphs

A Clar set of a benzenoid graph B is a maximum set of independent alternating hexagons over all perfect matchings of B. The Clar numberof B, denoted Cl(B), is the number of hexagons in a Clar set for B.

In this talk, an upper bound for the Clar number of catacondensed benzenoid graphs and a characterization of the graphs that attain this bound will be presented.