Tags: Chemical Compound, Chemical Substance.
Barrelene is a bicyclic organic compound with chemical formula C8H8 and systematic name bicyclo[2.2.2]octa-257-triene. First synthesized and described by H. E. Zimmerman in 1960 the name derives from the obvious resemblance to a barrel with the staves being three ethylene units attached to two methine groups. It is the formal Diels-Alder adduct of benzene and acetylene. Due to its unusual molecular geometry the compound is of considerable interest to theoretical chemists.
