Synthesis of Higher Diamondoids and Implications for Their Formation in Petroleum

Abstract

Kann Chemie so einfach sein? Reaktionen, die das Cracken von Erdöl nachbilden, liefern höhere diamantoide Formen aus niedrigeren. Die Ausbeuten sind gering, können aber durch Zusatz von Isobutan oder Isobuten merklich verbessert werden. Die Reaktionen verlaufen über radikalische Mechanismen (ähnliche einer Dampfabscheidung) und nicht, wie lange angenommen wurde, über Supersäure‐katalysierte Carbokationumlagerungen.

Magic Numbers for Packing Adamantane in Helium Droplets: Cluster Cations, Dications, and Trications

“…Adamantane, with its highly symmetric cage structure ( Figure 1) and unique thermal stability, has become a popular hydrocarbon molecule in a wide range of applications in material and polymer science, molecular electronics, biomedical sciences and chemical synthesis. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Furthermore, adamantane has achieved a reputation as the lowest member of the diamondoid family of molecules that are found naturally in such extreme and diverse environments as petroleum at depths accessed by commercial oil wells, where their thermal stability can serve to assess the extent of natural oil cracking, 11,12 and apparently in dense interstellar clouds that contain microdiamonds where adamantane molecules may play a role as building blocks. [13][14][15][16][17][18] Adamantane is the simplest polycyclic saturated hydrocarbon with a cage-like skeleton characteristic of the diamond lattice and so also is intrinsically interesting.…”

Evidence of Diamond Nanowires Formed inside Carbon Nanotubes from Diamantane Dicarboxylic Acid

“…Higher diamondoids were first isolated from petroleum only about a decade ago 6. The growth of diamond from such nanodiamonds7 was only just recently achieved 8. The synthesis of diamond wires with diameters of 50–100 nm has been achieved,9 but the preparation of diamond nanowires with sub‐nanometer diameter has not been achieved so far.…”

Atmospheric pressure synthesis of diamondoids by plasmas generated inside a microfluidic reactor

“…stepwise, even when the thermodynamics are not kinetically controlled [21,43], the carbon species involved in the synthesis and growth of diamondoids may be those which contain more than two carbon atoms.…”

“…For example, larger diamondoids were synthesized from smaller ones by sealed tube pyrolysis, under conditions similar to natural oil cracking, however, the reaction yields were only of the order of ppm [21]. On the other hand, electric discharges generated in supercritical xenon enabled the fabrication of nanodiamonds [22] and diamondoids [23].…”