Octachlorocyclobutane is an organochlorine compound of carbon and chlorine with the chemical formula . The molecule consists of a cyclobutane ring where all eight hydrogen atoms are replaced by chlorine atoms and where each carbon atom is bonded to two chlorine atoms. The octachlorocyclobutane ring is nonplanar with relatively long carbon-carbon bonds for cyclobutane derivative.C. M. Bock; The crystal and molecular structure of octahydroxycyclobutane. Journal American Chemical Society 1 May 1968; 90 (11): 2748–2751. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01013a002Carbocyclic compounds in Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry volume 49 page 371George Lindenberg Clark, Applied X-rays (1955)page 597 It has low strain energy.
Synthesis Pyrolysis of octachlorosulfolane at 340-350 °C gives octachlorocyclobutane at a high yield.S. Rajappa, Thiophenes and Their Benzo Derivatives: (ii) Reactivity in Comprehensive heterocyclic chemistry: the structure, reactions, synthesis, and uses of heterocyclic compounds (1984) volume 4: pages 859-860
Octachlorocyclobutane cannot be from tetrachloroethylene as its fluorinated analogue octafluorocyclobutane would be made from the dimerisation of tetrafluoroethylene.Roberts, John D.; Sharts, Clay M. (1942). "Cyclobutanes by Thermal Cycloaddition Reactions". Organic Reactions volume 12: page 18
See also Octafluorocyclobutane
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