TBA = tert-Butyl alcohol. At the triple point, where it freezes and boils at the same time.
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TBA = tert-Butyl alcohol. At the triple point, where it freezes and boils at the same time.
High symmetry (benzene, cyclohexane… and perfluorinated) and compact (camphor, cubane) molecules pack into crystal lattices with high binding energy (high melting: C_10H_16 adamantane mp 270°C; C_8H_8 cubane with mp 131°C, octane mp -57°C ) but with low van der Waals forces (low temp boil or sublimate: cubane at room temp – not much surface area/mass). The fun one is I(CF3)_7, MW 610, melting and boiling around 0°C to the heaviest gas by far, and with no static molecular structure. Neo-pentane mp around -18°C, bp around 12°C; n-pentane mp around -130°C, bp around 36°C; n-dodecafluoropentane bp around 30°C.
Symmetric compact molecules with tight surfaces are useful. If you want to vapor-transport metals, you make the carbonyls (Fe, Ni, Mo, W), the charge-neutral hexafluoracetylacetonates, or the highest valence fluorides (PtF6, paramagnetic triplet ground state, mp 61.3°C, bp 69.14°C, and violently reactive with xenon).
Solid state C_60 C-13 NMR is the solution spectrum. Buckeyballs whizz around in their crystal lattice, lubricated by their pi-clouds. Sublimating at ~600°C, it is relatively high pressure low temp gas phase carbon, as opposed to carbon arcs or white-hot graphite.