STRUCTURE OF 2-METHOXYCARBONYL-1,4-DINITROCUBANE

The title compound, methyl 2,7-dinitropentacyclo-[4.2 .0.0(2.5).0(3.8).0(4,7)]octane-1-carboxylate, is one of the few examples of cubanes with substituents on adjacent C atoms. There are two enantiomeric molecules per asymmetric unit in a structure with a noncentrosymmetric space group, P2(1)2(1)2. The molecules differ primarily in the conformations of the C-NO, groups adjacent to the methoxycarbonyl sustituents. The 1,2-disubstituted cubane C-C bonds average 1.564 angstrom, a typical value for an unsubstituted cubane bond.