The Pagodane Route to Dodecahedranes—Thermal, Reductive, and Oxidative Transformations of Pagodanes

The highly strained and, with regard to the element X, highly variable “pagodanes” 1 are intermediates in the three concerned alternative syntheses of the dodecahedranes 2. Characteristic behavior patterns of the rigid pagodane skeleton are recognizable in the prototype 3 upon thermolysis and hydrogenolysis as well as in the result of the one-electron oxidation.