The alkaline earth metals (Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) are experiencing a surge of interest due to newly discovered reagents that facilitate bond activation, and the stabilization of novel low-valent organometallic compounds. While magnesium(I) dimers have served as exceptional reducing agents, the reactivity of molecular beryllium compounds is still emerging. Our laboratory recently demonstrated that a beryllium(0) complex could serve as a reducing agent, which led to the synthesis of the first carbene-bismuthinidene [L-BiPh, L = cyclic(alkyl)(amino) carbene]. Despite the interesting structure, carbene-bismuthinidene is thermally unstable in solution, preventing extensive reactivity studies. Consequently, we are pursued low-coordinate bismuth cations using carbodicarbene, an exceptionally strong carbon(0) donor ligand. Mono-, di-, and tri-positive bismuthenium ions were isolated, which possess short bismuth-carbon bonds. This award lecture will cover our recent progress on these research topics. The utility of carbodicarbene in organoboron materials chemistry will also be discussed.

From beryllium to bismuth: Unusual bonding and organometallic chemistry of the main-group elements

ACS Spring 2022

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