It is thought to have 20 to 25 percent greater performance than HMX (octogen); the state-of-the-art military explosive at present.
Small amounts have been synthesized in the lab, but not enough for performance testing.
Octanitrocubane was first synthesized by Philip Eaton and Mao-Xi Zhang at the University of Chicago in 1999 with the structure proven by crystallographer Richard Gilardi of the US Naval Research Laboratory.
Its formula is C8 N8 O16. Its density is about 2 g/cm3. Its gram-molecular weight is 464.132(1) g/mol.