Appearance Colorless liquid | ||
Octatetraene is a class of organic chemical compound. Ideally octatetraenes are linear alkenes with backbones eight carbon atoms in length and with four double carbon-carbon bonds and three single bonds. Because aliphatic carbon is tetravalent, this leaves ten bonds by which hydrogen atoms can attach to the carbon skeleton.
The compounds are not in general of much commercial significance, but the octatetraene group has been studied in contexts in the physical chemistry of bonds, some aspect of which have relevance to cell membranes and some to the retinal chemistry of vision. The high degrees of symmetries and conjugation of bonds offer unusual aspects for study.
Related structures occur in some molecules of biological importance, for example alpha-Parinaric acid and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Derivatives include cyclic octatetraenes, such as cyclooctatetraene and 1,8-diphenyl-1,3,5,7-octatraene, some of which are of interest in special contexts.