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Octane
 
 
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Octane is a straight-chain alkane
Alkane

Alkanes, also known as paraffins, are chemical compounds that consist only of the elements carbon and hydrogen , wherein these atoms are linked together exclusively by single bonds without any cyclic structure ....
 with the chemical formula
Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
 CH3(CH2)6CH3.

Octane has 18 structural isomer
Isomer

In chemistry, isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulae. Isomers do not necessarily share similar properties unless they also have the same functional groups....
s:

e commercials had disappeared by the time of the 1973 Oil Crisis
1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis started on October 15, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo "in response to the U.S....
, which spared gasoline companies the need to compete via advertising.






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Octane is a straight-chain alkane
Alkane

Alkanes, also known as paraffins, are chemical compounds that consist only of the elements carbon and hydrogen , wherein these atoms are linked together exclusively by single bonds without any cyclic structure ....
 with the chemical formula
Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
 CH3(CH2)6CH3.

Octane has 18 structural isomer
Isomer

In chemistry, isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulae. Isomers do not necessarily share similar properties unless they also have the same functional groups....
s:
  • Octane (n-octane)
  • 2-Methylheptane
    2-Methylheptane

    2-Methylheptane is a branched alkane isomeric to octane. Its structural formula is 2CH4CH3....
  • 3-Methylheptane
    3-Methylheptane

    3-Methylheptane is a branched alkane isomeric to octane. Its structural formula is CH3CH2CHCH2CH2CH2CH3....
  • 4-Methylheptane
  • 3-Ethylhexane
  • 2,2-Dimethylhexane
  • 2,3-Dimethylhexane
  • 2,4-Dimethylhexane
  • 2,5-Dimethylhexane
  • 3,3-Dimethylhexane
  • 3,4-Dimethylhexane (meso compound
    Meso compound

    A meso compound or meso isomer is an non-optically active member of a set of stereoisomers, at least two of which are optically active. This means that despite containing two or more stereocenters it is not Optical isomerism....
    )
  • 2-Methyl-3-ethylpentane
  • 3-Methyl-3-ethylpentane
  • 2,2,3-Trimethylpentane
  • 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane (isooctane)
    2,2,4-Trimethylpentane

    2,2,4-Trimethylpentane, also known as isooctane or iso-octane, is an octane isomer which defines the 100 point on the octane rating scale ....
  • 2,3,3-Trimethylpentane
  • 2,3,4-Trimethylpentane
  • 2,2,3,3-Tetramethylbutane


Metaphorical use


Octane became well-known in American popular culture in the mid- and late-sixties, when gasoline companies boasted of "high octane" levels in their gasoline on television commercials. These commercials had disappeared by the time of the 1973 Oil Crisis
1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis started on October 15, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo "in response to the U.S....
, which spared gasoline companies the need to compete via advertising. "Octane" was rarely cited in non-technical contexts over the next two decades.

The compound adjective "high-octane" was apparently first used in its figurative sense (i.e. without reference to gasoline) in a book review of Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton

John Michael Crichton, Doctor of Medicine , was an United States author, film producer, film director, and physician, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and techno-thriller genres....
's novel Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park is a 1990 science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton. Often considered a cautionary tale on unconsidered biological tinkering in the same spirit as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it uses the mathematical concept of chaos theory and its philosophical implications to explain the collapse of an amusement park showcasin...
 (1990), which appeared in the newspaper New York Newsday
Newsday

Newsday is a daily tabloid-size, Pulitzer Prize-winning, United States newspaper that primarily serves Long Island and the New York City borough of Queens, although it is sold throughout the New York City metropolitan area....
. The review, by Gregory Feeley, called the novel "intellectually provocative, high-octane entertainment," and was quoted the following year in the front matter of the novel's paperback edition, which sold more than 15 million copies in the United States. By the mid-nineties, the phrase was commonly being used to as an intensifier, and (despite the paucity of references to octane in any other context) has apparently found a place in modern English vernacular.

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