Cuneane () is a saturated

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and Hydrophobe, hydrophobic; their odor is usually fain ...

with the

formula In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...

and a 3D structure resembling a

wedge A wedge is a triangle, triangular shaped tool, a portable inclined plane, and one of the six simple machines. It can be used to separate two objects or portions of an object, lift up an object, or hold an object in place. It functions by conver ...

, hence the name. Cuneane may be produced from

cubane Cubane is a synthetic hydrocarbon compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It consists of eight carbon atoms arranged at the corners of a Cube (geometry), cube, with one hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom. A solid crystalline substanc ...

by metal-ion-catalyzed σ-bond rearrangement. Similar reactions are known for () and bishomocubane (). : CubaneToCun

Molecular geometry

The carbon atoms in the cuneane molecule form a

hexahedron A hexahedron (: hexahedra or hexahedrons) or sexahedron (: sexahedra or sexahedrons) is any polyhedron with six faces. A cube, for example, is a regular hexahedron with all its faces square, and three squares around each vertex. There are seven ...

with point group C_2v. The cuneane molecule has three kinds of equivalent carbon atoms (A, B, C), which have also been confirmed by

NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which atomic nucleus, nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near and far field, near field) and respond by producing ...

. The molecular graph of the carbon skeleton of cuneane is a

regular graph In graph theory, a regular graph is a Graph (discrete mathematics), graph where each Vertex (graph theory), vertex has the same number of neighbors; i.e. every vertex has the same Degree (graph theory), degree or valency. A regular directed graph ...

with non-equivalent groups of vertices, and so it is a very important test object for different algorithms of

mathematical chemistry Mathematical chemistry is the area of research engaged in novel applications of mathematics to chemistry; it concerns itself principally with the mathematical modeling of chemical phenomena. Mathematical chemistry has also sometimes been called ...

. :

Derivatives

Some cuneane derivatives have

liquid crystal Liquid crystal (LC) is a state of matter whose properties are between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For example, a liquid crystal can flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a common direction as i ...

properties.

References

{{Reflist Polycyclic nonaromatic hydrocarbons Cyclopropanes Cyclobutanes