Staffane
group of chemical compounds
A staffane or [n]staffane is an organic compound, a polycyclic hydrocarbon with molecular structure H-[-C≡(-CH2-)3≡C-]n-H, for some integer n ≥ 1. The chemical formula is therefore C5nH6n+2
Staffanes were first obtained in 1988 by Piotr Kaszyński and Josef Michl, by spontaneous polymerization of [1.1.1]-propellane C5H6 or C2(=CH2)3. In the reaction, the axial C-C bond of the propellane (the "bridge") is broken, creating a free bond on each of the two axial carbons (the "bridgeheads"). The resulting structural unit [-C≡(-CH2-)3≡C-] is a rigid cage, consisting of two carbon atoms joined by three methylene bridges; therefore the joined units are constrained to lie on a straight line. This feature has generated substantial interest among nanotechnology researchers, who have considered staffane oligomers as convenient "rigid rods" for building all sorts of nanostructures.
An oligomer with a specific number n of units is named [n]staffane (e.g., [1]staffane is bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane, [2]staffane, etc.) The notation [n]staffane is used when the number of units is variable or unspecified; in this case the "n" in the brackets is not a variable, but the letter "n" iself, and therefore considered part of the name.
“Staffane” enters the record as group of chemical compounds. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Staffane, group and chemical can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Staffane” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.