We and others have recently shown that the introduction of carbonyl groups into the backbone of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) greatly enhances the π-acidity of the carbene by lowering the LUMO energy. This modification results in carbenes which can be regarded modest electrophiles and poor nucleophiles. This presentation, will discuss how our group has been exploiting the unique electronic properties of carbonyl-decorated carbenes (CDCs) to stabilize reactive main group species. Specific examples will include the stabilization of stibinidenes (SbR) and arsinidenes (AsR). As a part of this discussion will also be new synthetic methodologies that we have developed to prepare stable carbon-centered radicals and radical cations.

Stabilization of reactive main group species by coordination to carbonyl-decorated carbenes

249th National Meeting (2015)

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