Adamanzane Explained

Adamanzanes (abbreviated Adz) are compounds containing four nitrogen atoms linked by carbons (analogous to adamantane with nitrogen at the branched position).

Often coordinated to a central ligand, the nitrogens occupy the vertices of a tetrahedron, with potentially four faces and six edges, with the carbon chains running approximately along the edges. They can have a "bowl" or "cage" structure, with varying lengths or omission of the carbon chains. In the nomenclature of Springborg et al. (1996) these can be described according to the number of chains of specified length: thus, for example, [1⁴.2²]adamanzane is 1,3,6,8-tetraazatricyclo[4.4.1.1^3,8]dodecane, a compound which contains four one-carbon chains and two two-carbon chains linking the nitrogen atoms.^[1]

[3⁶]Adamanzane has found a special use in the preparation of "inverse sodium hydride", a compound in which Na⁻ and H⁺ ions coexist, due to the ability of the adamanzane to encapsulate the H⁺ and render it kinetically inert to react with the Na⁻.^[2]

References

1. Structure of Gas Phase Radical Cation of 1,3,6,8-Tetraazatricyclo[4.4.1.13,8] Dodecane Determined from Zero Kinetic Energy Photoelectron Spectroscopy ]. https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20120103132451/http://www.chem.wisc.edu/deptfiles/nelsen/258_jpcA05.109,959-61TTD_WeiKong.pdf . dead . 2012-01-03 . Yonggang He . J. Phys. Chem. A . 109 . 959–961 . 6 . 2005 . 10.1021/jp0444619 . 16833400 . 2005JPCA..109..959H . etal .
2. "Inverse Sodium Hydride": A Crystalline Salt that Contains H⁺ and Na⁻. Mikhail Y. Redko. J. Am. Chem. Soc.. 2002. 124. 21. 5928–5929. 10.1021/ja025655+. etal. 12022811.