cubane

Chemical compound

Chemical compoundtype of chemical entityQ413624

Also known as pentacyclo[4.2.0.0(2,5).0(3,8).0(4,7)]octane

Formula: C₈H₈
1
Sources
1.Stated in PubChem“Cubane”Retrieved 2016-10-06
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Mass: 104.063 Da
1
Sources
1.Stated in PubChem“Cubane”Retrieved 2016-10-06
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Melting point: 130°C

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Cubane is a synthetic hydrocarbon compound with the formula C8H8. It consists of eight carbon atoms arranged at the corners of a cube, with one hydrogen atom attached to each carbon atom. A solid crystalline substance, cubane is one of the Platonic hydrocarbons and a member of the prismanes. It was first synthesized in 1964 by Philip Eaton and Thomas Cole. Before this work, Eaton believed that cubane would be impossible to synthesize due to the "required 90 degree bond angles". The cubic shape requires the carbon atoms to adopt an unusually sharp 90° bonding angle, which would be highly strained as compared to the 109.45° angle of a tetrahedral carbon. Once formed, cubane is quite kinetically stable, due to a lack of readily available decomposition paths. It is the simplest hydrocarbon with octahedral symmetry.

Overview

Chemistry

Computed by PubChem CID 136090 (NIH) · Public domain

Molecular formula: C8H8
Molecular weight: 104.15 g/mol
IUPAC name: cubane
SMILES: C12C3C4C1C5C2C3C45
InChIKey: TXWRERCHRDBNLG-UHFFFAOYSA-N
XLogP: 1.2
Topological polar surface area: 0 Å²
H-bond donors / acceptors: 0 / 0
Complexity: 110

Chemistry

All data

37 statements · 38% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Members / parts: carbon quantity: 8
hydrogen quantity: 8
methanetriyl group quantity: 8
Canonical SMILES: C12C3C4C1C5C2C3C45
1
Sources
1.Stated in PubChem“Cubane”Retrieved 2016-10-06
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Different from: Kuban
Cubans
Decomposition point: 200°C
Shape: cube
Subclass of: Platonic hydrocarbon
prismane
cubane-type cluster
Named after: cube

On other databases

20 identifiers linking cubane across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

38%

externally sourced

Source last edited August 10, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). cubane (Q413624). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/cubane-Q413624