oint. Thus the mixture is separated into fractions of compounds with similar boiling points in a mixture.4 Adamantanes high boiling point caused it to be one of the initial compounds to condense with the kerosene fraction in the 190o C cut.5 The only problem with the fractional distillation method is that adamantane cannot be extracted in large quantities because it exists in only a small quantity in petrol. The presence of adamantane was found to be only 0.0004% of the composition of petroleum by the fractional distillation method.2 Adamantane is not alone in the petroleum distillate in which it is present. Alkylated adamantane derivatives also show up in adamantane containing distillate. (II, III, IV) The output of adamantane is capable of being increased if the thiourea adduct method is employed on the petroleum. Landa and Hale were able to isolate complexes of adamantane from crude petroleum that had bonded to thiourea.5 Now that the natural product has been discovered, the next logical step would be to formulate the natural process in which the compound was made. As of 1964, the natural method that creates the adamantane compound had not been found. The natural process that was attempted was to bombard adamantane-free petroleum with catalysts in an attempt to initiate the formation of adamantane. The resulting mixture was fractioned and analyzed to see if any extra adamantane was created. In most cases, the catalyst failed to produce any adamantane. However, many of the catalysts produced derivatives that had the ring structure but with extra components attached.5 The only catalyst shown to make a significant amount was AlCl3, but not enough was created for the catalyst to be considered for mass production of adamantane. Catalysts that failed were: oil-bearing stone from Hodin with and without HF, aluminum silicate, aluminum oxide, concentrated sulfuric acid, zinc chloride, iron(III) chloride, tin(IV) chloride, antimony(V...
