Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 9, 2026

Asterane

Asteranes are members of a series of cage hydrocarbons consisting of two cycloalkane rings linked to each other by methylene groups. Each linking face is thus a cyclohexane, which has a boat conformation. They can be considered as homologues of the prismanes, but with a carbon linker between the faces rather than direct bonding. The molecules having linear, triangular, and square bases, [2]asterane, [3]asterane, and [4]asterane, have been synthesized and studied experimentally, and many higher members of the series have been studied using computer models. Modeling experiments predict that the highly symmetric geometry is no longer stable starting with [8]asterane.

Last revised
Jun 9, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗

Asteranes are members of a series of cage hydrocarbons consisting of two cycloalkane rings linked to each other by methylene groups. Each linking face is thus a cyclohexane, which has a boat conformation.1 They can be considered as homologues of the prismanes, but with a carbon linker between the faces rather than direct bonding. The molecules having linear, triangular, and square bases, [2]asterane (also known as diasterane),2 [3]asterane, and [4]asterane, have been synthesized and studied experimentally, and many higher members of the series have been studied using computer models. Modeling experiments predict that the highly symmetric geometry is no longer stable starting with [8]asterane.3

Structures

[n]asteranes for n=2–7
1: Diasterane, 2: Triasterane, 3: Tetrasterane, 4: Pentasterane,
5: Hexasterane, 6: Heptasterane source ↗
References

References

  1. Henning Hopf, Classics in Hydrocarbon Chemistry, Wiley-VCH, New York, 2000, pages 34-37, ISBN 978-3-527-29606-4.
  2. Otterbach, Andreas; Musso, Hans (June 1987). "Diasterane (Tricyclo[3.1.1.12,4]octane)". Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English. 26 (6): 554–555. doi:10.1002/anie.198705541.
  3. Gribanova, T. N.; Minyaev, R. M.; Minkin, V. I. (2007). "Quantum-chemical investigation of structure and stability of [n]-prismanes and [n]-asteranes". Russian Journal of Organic Chemistry. 43 (8): 1144–1150. doi:10.1134/S107042800708009X.