ve of it. The first synthesis of true adamantane did not occur until 1937 when Prelog and Seiworth were able to advance the work of Bottger, and decarboxylize the ring structure leaving behind only the basic ring.6 Adamantane was their final product, but that product still was not produced in large quantities. The system used by Prelog and Seiworth yielded an output of adamantane at 0.16% of the materials going into it.7 As often occurs in science, the advancements made by Prelog and Seiworth were furthered by the research of others. Landa reentered the adamantane research realm with Stetter. Together, they were able to improve the efficiency of Prelog and Seiworths overall synthesis. Decarboxylation yield was increased by the addition of the Heinsdecker pathway (11%), and the Hoffman reaction (24%). Even with the advancements, synthesis of adamantane by ring closure was never able to yield an output over 6.5% of the reactants.5 Nevertheless, the process developed by Bottger remained an efficient method for the synthesis of derivatives.This left research of adamantane to be inferred through the experimentation of adamantanes derivatives since its synthesis was not economical. This was true until 1957 when Paul von R. Schleyer accidentally synthesized adamantane. Schleyer was working on the inversion of reversible endo-exo isomerization of tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene.3 During his experimentation, he noticed that the reaction had a side product of a white crystalline compound. The compound was set aside and investigated later. The mysterious compound was found to have a melting point that matched the experimental adamantane melting point. Other adamantane-like characteristics later solidified his compound as a match. Schleyers discovery of an isomerization method of adamantane synthesis rocked the scientific community, as it provided a more efficient method for adamantane production. Schleyer was able to increase the output o...
