Staffane
A staffane or staffane is an organic compound, a polycyclic hydrocarbon with molecular structure H-n-H, for some integer n ≥ 1. The chemical formula is therefore C5nH6n+2
Staffanes were first obtained in 1988 by Piotr Kaszyński and Josef Michl, by spontaneous polymerization of 1.1.1-Propellane|-propellane C5H6 or C23. In the reaction, the axial C-C bond of the propellane is broken, creating a free bond on each of the two axial carbons. The resulting structural unit is a rigid cage, consisting of two carbon atoms joined by three methylene bridges; therefore the joined units are constrained to lie on a straight line. This feature has generated substantial interest among nanotechnology researchers, who have considered staffane oligomers as convenient "rigid rods" for building all sorts of nanostructures.
An oligomer with a specific number n of units is named staffane The notation staffane is used when the number of units is variable or unspecified; in this case the "n" in the brackets is not a variable, but the letter "n" iself, and therefore considered part of the name.