1

Does this molecule exist? I've been wondering about extreme steric hindrance and trying to find the limit of what can exist and what not. It appears to exist some basic data about it in PubChem, but does this really matter? Do all the molecules that are recorde in this site really exist? I haven't found anything more, and I would also like to know if there's any synthetic path to achieve it. Maybe it's impossible to know how to produce this molecule, but I'm sure that is possible to calculate the thermodinamic parameters or the relative stability.

Wikipedia also shows that it's an hypothetical compound and there are energetic studies in references: ...for tetra-TBM, a compound that has not yet been synthesized, the G3(MP2) results reported in this work should be reliable estimates...

So, does this mean that is possible to make it but it hasn't been made yet?

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ci0497657

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/14123361

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/jp034879r

Jorge Bonifaz
  • 681
  • 1
  • 20
  • 1
    Even if it could exist, it would be hard to produce. The closes thing I'm aware of is tetra-tert-butyl-phosphonium, but the method used to produce it does NOT translate to nitrogen or carbon central atom. ref: https://doi.org/10.1002/cber.19801130440 – permeakra Aug 28 '22 at 12:49
  • related https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/108219/largest-alkane-having-a-given-alkane-as-its-base-name – Mithoron Aug 28 '22 at 12:59
  • It is quite likely not to exist. Theoretical studies of possible alkane isomers show that this isomer and its neighbour with one fewer methyl group are too crowded to exist never mind be synthesised: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/a/27980/81 – matt_black Aug 29 '22 at 14:12
  • Henry Rzepa's blog has a post on this topic. According to him, the tetraisopropyl methane (formally bis(3,3-isopropyl)-2,4-dimethylpentane) has been made, but the tetra t-butyl "might never be achieved" and he provides an argument why: https://www.ch.imperial.ac.uk/rzepa/blog/?p=24159 – Andrew Sep 21 '22 at 12:46
  • Something close to it, pentaerythritol, is used in paint resin formulas. – Robert DiGiovanni Sep 21 '22 at 10:48
  • 1
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C5CP07005H terminal methyl groups are linked pairwise to benzene rings, but the core structure is the one from your question. – andselisk Sep 21 '22 at 14:14

0 Answers0