1,3,5,7-Adamantanetetracarboxylic acid

1,3,5,7-Adamantanetetracarboxylic acid is an adamantane derivative containing four carboxylic acid groups bonded to each of its four tetrahedral carbon centers. Its tetrahedral symmetry provides applications as a hydrogen-bonded organic framework linker and as a dendrimer core.

Preparation
In Ermer's 1988 first application of 1,3,5,7-adamantanetetracarboxylic acid as a monomer for a hydrogen-bonded organic framework, it was prepared by alkaline hydrolysis of 1,3,5,7-adamantanetetracarboxamide.

Uses
1,3,5,7-Adamantanetetracarboxylic acid (abbreviated as the ADTA linker in reticular chemistry) was used in 1988 as one of the first linkers in hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks. A tetrahedral linker, it crystallizes into a five-fold interpenetrated diamond cubic network in which ADTA units are hydrogen-bonded to each other through their carboxylic acid groups.