bicyclo320heptane

Bicyclo[3.2.0]heptane, also written as bicyclo320heptane, is a saturated hydrocarbon with seven carbon atoms arranged in two fused rings. It is one of the bicyclic alkanes and represents the bicyclic isomer of heptane with three bridges between the two bridgehead carbons of lengths 3, 2, and 0. The presence of a zero-length third bridge means the two bridgeheads are directly bonded, yielding a compact, strained framework. The molecular formula is C7H12.

Structure and naming: The IUPAC name is bicyclo[3.2.0]heptane. As a bridged bicyclic system, it shares two adjacent carbon atoms between the rings and exhibits significant ring strain relative to larger or unconstrained hydrocarbons. The molecule is non-planar and typically has low symmetry due to the constrained ring geometry.

Synthesis and occurrence: This compound is not common in industrial chemistry. It appears mainly in the chemical literature as a representative bridged bicyclic skeleton and as a test case for studies of ring strain, conformational analysis, and computational modeling. General synthetic discussions focus on approaches to constructing similar bicyclic frameworks rather than on a dedicated preparation of this exact skeleton.

Properties and applications: It is a colorless, volatile hydrocarbon that is insoluble in water and soluble in nonpolar organic solvents. There are no widely recognized commercial applications; its value lies primarily in academic contexts, such as examining strain in small bicyclic systems and benchmarking computational methods.

See also: norbornane (bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane) and other bicyclo[n.m.p]alkanes.