Iceane is a

saturated Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to: Chemistry * Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds ** Saturated and unsaturated compounds **Degree of unsaturation ** Saturated fat or fatty ac ...

polycyclic

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 hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...

with formula C₁₂H₁₈. It has a

cage A cage is an enclosure often made of mesh, bars, or wires, used to confine, contain or protect something or someone. A cage can serve many purposes, including keeping an animal or person in captivity, capturing an animal or person, and displayin ...

-like molecular structure, whose

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...

skeleton can be viewed as three fused cyclohexane rings in the

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

conformation; or as two such rings in the chair conformation, connected by three parallel (axial) bonds. The spatial arrangement of carbon atoms in Iceane is the lonsdalite crystalline structure. The name "iceane" was proposed by the chemist

Louis Fieser Louis Frederick Fieser (April 7, 1899 – July 25, 1977) was an American organic chemist, professor, and in 1968, professor emeritus at Harvard University. He is known for inventing military effective napalm whilst he worked at Harvard in 194 ...

about a decade before the compound was first prepared. He was carrying out studies on the arrangement of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...

molecules in

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...

, when it occurred to him that there could exist a stable hydrocarbon with the above structure. It is also referred to as wurtzitane, due to its similarity to the

wurtzite crystal structure In crystallography, the hexagonal crystal family is one of the six crystal families, which includes two crystal systems (hexagonal and trigonal) and two lattice systems (hexagonal and rhombohedral). While commonly confused, the trigonal crystal ...

; however, the name "iceane" has precedence.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Royal Society of Chemistry Journal''Symmetry Through the Eyes of a Chemist'', Magdolna Hargittai ''A Basis for Synthesis Design'', Tse-Lok Ho''Structures and Energies of Polycyclic Hydrocarbons'', Joan E. Shields
Polycyclic nonaromatic hydrocarbons

See also

References

External links