Norbornene or norbornylene or norcamphene is a highly strained bridged cyclic

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 ...

. It is a white solid with a pungent sour odor. The

molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...

consists of a

cyclohexene Cyclohexene is a hydrocarbon with the formula . It is a cycloalkene. At room temperature, cyclohexene is a colorless liquid with a sharp odor. Among its uses, it is an chemical intermediate, intermediate in the commercial synthesis of nylon. Prod ...

ring with a

methylene bridge In chemistry, a methylene bridge is part of a molecule with formula . The carbon atom is connected by single bonds to two other distinct atoms in the rest of the molecule. A methylene bridge is often called a methylene group or simply methylene, ...

between carbons 1 and 4. The molecule carries a

double bond In chemistry, a double bond is a covalent bond between two atoms involving four bonding electrons as opposed to two in a single bond. Double bonds occur most commonly between two carbon atoms, for example in alkenes. Many double bonds exist betw ...

which induces significant

ring strain In organic chemistry, ring strain is a type of instability that exists when bonds in a molecule form angles that are abnormal. Strain is most commonly discussed for small rings such as cyclopropanes and cyclobutanes, whose internal angles ar ...

and significant reactivity.

Production

Norbornene is made by a

Diels–Alder reaction In organic chemistry, the Diels–Alder reaction is a chemical reaction between a Conjugated system, conjugated diene and a substituted alkene, commonly termed the Diels–Alder reaction#The dienophile, dienophile, to form a substituted cyclohexe ...

cyclopentadiene Cyclopentadiene is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula C5H6. It is often abbreviated CpH because the cyclopentadienyl anion is abbreviated Cp−. This colorless liquid has a strong and unpleasant odor. At room temperature, ...

and

ethylene Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon–carbon bond, carbon–carbon doub ...

. Many substituted norbornenes can be prepared similarly. Related bicyclic compounds are norbornadiene, which has the same carbon skeleton but with two double bonds, and

norbornane Norbornane (also known as bicyclo .2.1eptane) is an organic compound and a saturated hydrocarbon with chemical formula C7H12. It is a crystalline compound with a melting point of 88 °C. The carbon skeleton is derived from cyclohexane ring with ...

which is prepared by

hydrogenation Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to redox, reduce or Saturated ...

of norbornene.

Reactions

Norbornene undergoes an acid-catalyzed

hydration reaction In chemistry, a hydration reaction is a chemical reaction in which a substance combines with water. In organic chemistry, water is added to an unsaturated substrate, which is usually an alkene or an alkyne. This type of reaction is employed indust ...

to form norborneol. This reaction was of great interest in the elucidation of the non-classical carbocation controversy. Norbornene is used in the Catellani reaction and in norbornene-mediated ''meta''-C−H activation. Certain substituted norbornenes undergo unusual substitution reactions owing to the generation of the

2-norbornyl cation In organic chemistry, the term 2-norbornyl cation (or 2-bicyclo .2.1eptyl cation) describes a carbonium ionic derivative of norbornane. A salt of the 2-norbornyl cation was crystallized and characterized by X-ray crystallography confirmed the n ...

. Being a strained ene, norbornenes react readily with

thiol In organic chemistry, a thiol (; ), or thiol derivative, is any organosulfur compound of the form , where R represents an alkyl or other organic substituent. The functional group itself is referred to as either a thiol group or a sulfhydryl grou ...

s in the thiol-ene reaction to form

thioether In organic chemistry, a sulfide (British English sulphide) or thioether is an organosulfur functional group with the connectivity as shown on right. Like many other sulfur-containing compounds, Volatile organic compound, volatile sulfides have ...

s. This makes norbornene-functionalized monomers ideal for polymerization with thiol-based monomers to form thiol-ene networks.

Polynorbornenes

Norbornenes are important

monomer A monomer ( ; ''mono-'', "one" + '' -mer'', "part") is a molecule that can react together with other monomer molecules to form a larger polymer chain or two- or three-dimensional network in a process called polymerization. Classification Chemis ...

s in ring-opening metathesis polymerizations (ROMP). Typically these conversions are effected with ill-defined catalysts. Polynorbornenes exhibit high

glass transition temperature The glass–liquid transition, or glass transition, is the gradual and reversible transition in amorphous materials (or in amorphous regions within semicrystalline materials) from a hard and relatively brittle "glassy" state into a viscous or rub ...

s and high optical clarity. : Polynbornene

In addition to ROMP, norbornene monomers also undergo vinyl-

addition polymerization Chain-growth polymerization ( AE) or chain-growth polymerisation ( BE) is a polymerization technique where monomer molecules add onto the active site on a growing polymer chain one at a time. There are a limited number of these active sites at an ...

, and is a popular monomer for use in cyclic olefin copolymers. Polynorbornene is used mainly in the rubber industry for antivibration (rail, building, industry), antiimpact (personal protective equipment, shoe parts, bumpers) and grip improvement (toy tires, racing tires, transmission systems, transports systems for copiers, feeders, etc.)

Ethylidene norbornene Ethylidene norbornene (ENB) is an organic compound that consists of an ethylidene (CH3C(H)=) group attached to norbornene. It is a colorless liquid. The molecule consists of two sites of unsaturation. The compound consists of (''E'')- and (''Z ...

is a related monomer derived from

and

butadiene 1,3-Butadiene () is the organic compound with the formula CH2=CH-CH=CH2. It is a colorless gas that is easily condensed to a liquid. It is important industrially as a precursor to synthetic rubber. The molecule can be viewed as the union of two ...

References

{{Authority control Monomers Norbornanes

Production

Reactions

Polynorbornenes

See also

References