9-Azahomocubane

Chemistry. 2024 Jan 11;30(3):e202303133. doi: 10.1002/chem.202303133. Epub 2023 Nov 20.

Abstract

Homocubane, a highly strained cage hydrocarbon, contains two very different positions for the introduction of a nitrogen atom into the skeleton, e. g., a position 1 exchange results in a tertiary amine whereas position 9 yields a secondary amine. Herein reported is the synthesis of 9-azahomocubane along with associated structural characterization, physical property analysis and chemical reactivity. Not only is 9-azahomocubane readily synthesized, and found to be stable as predicted, the basicity of the secondary amine was observed to be significantly lower than the structurally related azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane, although similar to 1-azahomocubane.

Keywords: azahomocubane; cubane; homocubane; hydrocarbons; strained molecules.