Octaazacubane

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Octaazacubane
Other names

Octaazapentacyclo[4.2.0.02,5.03,8.04,7octane; Cubaazane; Nitrogen octaatomic molecule
Identifiers
CAS number 78998-15-9 YesY
Jmol-3D images Image 1
Properties
Molecular formula N8
Molar mass 112.05 g mol−1
Density 2.69 g/cm3 (predicted)1
 YesY (verify) (what is: YesY/N?)
Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa)
Infobox references

Octaazacubane is a hypothetical allotrope of nitrogen, whose molecules have eight atoms arranged into a cube. (By comparison, nitrogen usually occurs as the diatomic molecule N2.) It can be regarded as a derivative of cubane, where all eight carbon atoms (and their corresponding hydrogen atoms) have been replaced with a nitrogen atom.2 It is predicted to be a metastable molecule, in which despite the thermodynamic instability caused by bond strain, and the high energy of the N-N single bonds, the molecule remains kinetically stable for reasons of orbital symmetry.3

Explosive and fuel

Octaazacubane is predicted to have an energy density (assuming decomposition into N2) of 22.9 MJ / kg,4 which is over 5 times the standard value of TNT. It has therefore been proposed (along with other exotic nitrogen allotropes) as an explosive, and as a component of high performance rocket fuel.5 Its velocity of detonation is predicted to be 15,000 m/s, much (48.5%) more than ONC, the fastest known nonnuclear explosive.6

See also

References

  1. ^ Agrawal, Jai Prakash (2010). High Energy Materials: Propellants, Explosives and Pyrotechnics. Online: Wiley-VCH. p. 498. ISBN 978-3-527-62880-3. 
  2. ^ B. Muir. "Cubane"(See under "further topics" section.) 
  3. ^ Ujwala N. Patil, Nilesh R. Dhumal and Shridhar P. Gejji. "Theoretical studies on the molecular electron densities and electrostatic potentials in azacubanes". Theoretical Chemistry Accounts: Theory, Computation, and Modeling (Theoretica Chimica Acta) 112. p. 27-32. 
  4. ^ Mikhail N. Glukhovtsev, Haijun Jiao, and Paul von Ragué Schleyer. "Besides N2, What Is the Most Stable Molecule Composed Only of Nitrogen Atoms?". Inorganic Chemistry 35. p. 7124–7133. 
  5. ^ "Exploding the mysteries of nitrogen.". Chemistry and Industry. 
  6. ^ Agrawal, Jai Prakash (2010). High Energy Materials: Propellants, Explosives and Pyrotechnics. Online: Wiley-VCH. p. 498. ISBN 978-3-527-62880-3. 
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