In the vapour phase and close to the liquid–vapour saturation curve, fluids made of complex molecules are expected to exhibit a thermodynamic region in which the fundamental derivative of gasdynamic ? is negative. In this region, non-classical gasdynamic phenomena such as rarefaction shock waves are physically admissible, namely they obey the second law of thermodynamics and fulfil the speed-orienting condition for mechanical stability. Previous studies have demonstrated that the thermodynamic states for which rarefaction shock waves are admissible are however not limited to the ?