Talk:Octasulfur

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I think a better title for this article is cyclooctasulfur (5320 Google hits). The current title octathiocane (1820 Google hits) is less common and uses organic nomenclature for an inorganic molecule.

Thiocane is Hantzsch–Widman nomenclature for cyclo-(CH₂)₇S, i.e. cyclooctane with one methylene (CH₂) group replaced by a sulfur atom. You can see from the pattern below where the name octathiocane comes from, but it doesn't make much sense because S₈ is not a heterocyclic molecule (it's a homocyclic molecule). Hantzsch–Widman nomenclature only applies to heterocycles.

Name	Formula	Semistructural formula	CH2	S	Structure(s)
cyclooctane	C8H16	cyclo-(CH2)8	8	0
thiocane	C7H14S	cyclo-(CH2)7S	7	1
dithiocane	C6H12S2	cyclo-(CH2)6S2	6	2
trithiocane	C5H10S3	cyclo-(CH2)5S3	5	3
tetrathiocane	C4H8S4	cyclo-(CH2)4S4	4	4
pentathiocane	C3H6S5	cyclo-(CH2)3S5	3	5
hexathiocane	C2H4S6	cyclo-(CH2)2S6	2	6
heptathiocane	CH2S7	cyclo-(CH2)S7	1	7
octathiocane	S8	cyclo-S8	0	8

Ben (talk) 13:14, 26 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

OK, no objections here. Plasmic Physics (talk) 15:07, 26 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I tried to do the move, but cyclooctasulfur already exists as a redirect. I'll ask an admin. I was interesting looking into all the possible thiocanes – might spawn a new article. --Ben (talk) 15:21, 26 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]