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Concept
Allenes
Summary
In organic chemistry, allenes are organic compounds in which one carbon atom has double bonds with each of its two adjacent carbon atoms (, where R is H or some organyl group). Allenes are classified as cumulated dienes. The parent compound of this class is propadiene (), which is itself also called allene. An group of the structure is called allenyl, where R is H or some alkyl group. Compounds with an allene-type structure but with more than three carbon atoms are members of a larger class of compounds called cumulenes with bonding.
For many years, allenes were viewed as curiosities but thought to be synthetically useless and difficult to prepare and to work with. Reportedly, the first synthesis of an allene, glutinic acid, was performed in an attempt to prove the non-existence of this class of compounds. The situation began to change in the 1950s, and more than 300 papers on allenes have been published in 2012 alone. These compounds are not just interesting intermediates but synthetically valuable targets themselves; for example, over 150 natural products are known with an allene or cumulene fragment.
The central carbon atom of allenes forms two sigma bonds and two pi bonds. The central carbon atom is sp-hybridized, and the two terminal carbon atoms are sp2-hybridized. The bond angle formed by the three carbon atoms is 180°, indicating linear geometry for the central carbon atom. The two terminal carbon atoms are planar, and these planes are twisted 90° from each other. The structure can also be viewed as an "extended tetrahedral" with a similar shape to methane, an analogy that is continued into the stereochemical analysis of certain derivative molecules.
The symmetry and isomerism of allenes has long fascinated organic chemists. For allenes with four identical substituents, there exist two twofold axes of rotation through the central carbon atom, inclined at 45° to the CH2 planes at either end of the molecule. The molecule can thus be thought of as a two-bladed propeller.
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