Beilstein J. Org. Chem.2019,15, 1347–1354, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.134
structures stabilised by multiple tert-butyl groups [20][21], multi-ring cagehydrocarbons [22][23], and linear alkanes [22][23]. The interaction was found to be attractive in all these cases, and computational justifications have been published [21][23]. It, therefore, appears probable that, despite their
Beilstein J. Org. Chem.2011,7, 222–233, doi:10.3762/bjoc.7.30
described.
Keywords: cagehydrocarbons; high symmetry; reciprocal polyhedra; Review
Platonic polyhedra and the Euler relationship
The Platonic solids have long fascinated geometers, artists and chemists alike. Molecular analogues of the tetrahedron (P4, B4Cl4, Si4t-Bu4), octahedron ([B6H6]2−), cube (C8H8
, [B6H6]2− has 7 skeletal electron pairs and is three-dimensionally aromatic. In contrast, in the CnHn cages the number of skeletal electron pairs equals the number of edges. In terms of the Euler equation (V + F = E + 2), for cagehydrocarbons, 2E = 3V, as exemplified by cubane, C8H8, which has 12 edges
original concept and propose that other highly symmetrical cagehydrocarbons of the CnHn type might have closo-borane counterparts. Indeed, Lipscomb and Massa have discussed the structures of borane analogues of fullerenes [52][53] and even of nanotubes [54]. In particular, they proposed that C60 (V, E, F
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Graphical Abstract
Figure 1:
Molecular analogues of the Platonic solids.