Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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In this video I continue the journey to the ultimate cubic molecule - cubane by making 2,2,5-tribromo cyclopentanone ethylene ketal and its Diels-Alder adduct while witnessing the worst tars of my life and spending an eternity purifying my product.

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Reference papers:
researchgate.net/publication/244572672_Dimethyl_Cubane-14-dicarboxylate_A_Practical_Laboratory_Scale_Synthesis
https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA210368.pdf
pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/op400181g
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2023/OB/D3OB00231D

0:00 Intro
2:45 Puryifyng 1,4-Dioxane using sodium metal
6:14 Brominating cyclopentanone ethylene ketal
10:40 Isolating 2,2,5-tribromo cyclopentanone ethylene ketal from the reaction mix
15:49 Making a very chonky molecule from tribromoketal using the Diels-Alder reaction
20:10 Outro

#chemistry
#experiment
#beautiful
#demonstration
#science
#cubane
#organicchemistry
#tar
#cool
#reaction
#yellow
#bromine