What is "dodecahedrane"

n. (context organic compound English) One of the Platonic hydrocarbons, C₂₀H₂₀, having the carbon atoms at the vertices of a regular dodecahedron.

Dodecahedrane is a chemical compound (CH) first synthesised by Leo Paquette of Ohio State University in 1982, primarily for the "aesthetically pleasing symmetry of the dodecahedral framework".

In this molecule, each vertex is a carbon atom that bonds to three neighbouring carbon atoms. The 108° angle of each regular pentagon is close to the ideal bond angle of 109.5° for an sp hybridised atom. Each carbon atom is bonded to a hydrogen atom as well. The molecule, like fullerene, has I symmetry, evidenced by its proton NMR spectrum in which all hydrogen atoms appear at a single chemical shift of 3.38 ppm. Dodecahedrane is one of the Platonic hydrocarbons, the others being cubane and tetrahedrane, and does not occur in nature.