Carbenes hybridization

After filling of the lbi, 2bi, and la2 bonding it MOs, the last two electrons must be distributed between the ai, 3bi, and 2a2 orbitals. As depicted in Fig. 8, the carbene hybrid orbital (ai) is lower than but close in energy to the 3bi and 2a2 it MOs. Five electronic states are thus worthy of consideration 1 Ai, 2, Bi, 3A2, and 3Bi. The electron configurations of these states and the CASSCF optimized geometry of each are shown in Fig. 9.57... 

The transformation of ethylene to the carbene requires the re-pairing of three electron pairs. It is a phase-preserving reaction, so that the loop is an ip one. The sp -hybridized carbon atom formed upon H transfer is a chiral center consequently, there are two equivalent loops, and thus conical intersections, leading to two enantiomers. 

Divalent carbon species called carbenes are capable of fleeting existence. For example, methylene, CH2, is the simplest carbene. The two unshared electrons in methylene can be either spin-paired in a single orbital or unpaired in different orbitals. Predict the type of hybridization you expect carbon to adopt in singlet (spin-paired) methylene and triplet (spin-unpaired) methylene. Draw a picture of each, and identify the valence orbitals on carbon. 

These observations are compatible with the model for the carbene complex presented in Section II,A. Both metal and w-donor substituents compete to donate electron density to unfilled carbenepz orbitals, and with good 7r-donors such as nitrogen, the metal is less effective. In terms of resonance formalism, the resonance hybrid 39 makes a more significant contribution than 40 to the structure of the carbene ligands in these compounds. Similar conclusions are reached when the structures of Group 6, 7, and other Group 8 heteroatom-substituted carbene complexes are considered. 

The Os—CcarbPh angle of 139(1)° in 59 is substantially increased from the angle of 120° expected for an sp2 hybridized carbon atom. This distortion is probably a consequence of both steric interactions between the phenyl ring and other equatorial ligands and the minimal steric demands of the proton (the other carbene substituent). 

Although not the central subject of this review, several thorium dihaptocarbamoyl complexes ( 4) Th(n2-CONR2)/ were also examined with respect to thorium hydride-catalyzed reduction. Under 0.75 atm H2 and over the course of several days at temperatures as high as 100°C, no hydrogenation was observed. These results are in accord with other spectral, structural, and chemical data (14) indicating the importance of carbamoyl resonance hybrids O and P, and that the carbene-like reactivity is significantly reduced in comparison to the acyls (14) ... 

Spectator substituents, bonded to the carbene s migration terminus (Ci), directly influence the lifetime and philicity of the carbene, but they do not primarily alter the migratory aptitudes of migrants on C2. Oxa spectator substituents stabilize singlet carbenes by electron donation to the vacant carbenic p orbital (LUMO) cf. resonance hybrid 69. 

Phenylcarbene (la). Just as in triplet methylene (CH2), in triplet phenylcarbene (3A"-la) one electron occupies the p-jr atomic orbital on the carbene carbon and one electron occupies the in-plane a hybrid orbital. However, in the lowest singlet state of CH2 and of phenylcarbene ( A -la), both electrons occupy the hybrid a orbital, because this orbital is substantially lower in energy than the p-jt AO. 

Vinylidenecarbene or allenylidene3 (R)2C=C=C has a lance-shaped, unsubstituted and sp-hybridized carbene center and, therefore, will not be easily subject to steric hindrance in its insertion reactions. On this assumption, (2-methyljpropenylidenecarbene or its carbenoid was chosen as a prototype of typical vinylidenecarbenes and its insertion reaction with several different types of alkoxides was investigated by employing two methods (A and B, Scheme 10) for carbene generation.20 The insertion products 20 were obtained almost exclusively except lithium allyloxide (Table 4, entry 10).21 By-products such as propargyl ether and allenyl ether were not formed at all. To be noted here, in... 

Although alkylidenecarbenes (R)2C=C and carbenoids 22-24 have an ip-hybridized carbene center similar to that of vinylidenecarbenes, the reactivity will be subject to the steric influence of substituents R3 and R4 because its location is closer to the carbene center than vinylidenecarbenes (Scheme 11). The steric effect was exerted in the reactions of 2-methylpropenylidene 22 generated from 2-methyl-1-chloropropene and butyllithium (BuLi) (Scheme ll).22 23 The results are summarized in Table 5. A more detailed discussion on the stereoselectivity of this reaction will be revisited in Section HI. A. 

An unusual carbene-thioether hybrid ligand 174 was synthesized and applied in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of dimethyl itaconate by Chung and co-workers however, the selectivity and activity were low (Table 27.7, entry 34) [135]. 

Since the hybridization and structure of the nitrile group resemble those of alkynes, titanium carbene complexes react with nitriles in a similar fashion. Titanocene-methylidene generated from titanacyclobutane or dimethyltitanocene reacts with two equivalents of a nitrile to form a 1,3-diazatitanacyclohexadiene 81. Hydrolysis of 81 affords p-ketoena-mines 82 or 4-amino-l-azadienes 83 (Scheme 14.35) [65,78]. The formation of the azati-tanacyclobutene by the reaction of methylidene/zinc halide complex with benzonitrile has also been studied [44]. 

In addition to the ring opening of cyclopropenes noted above, vinylketene complexes 103 have been prepared by (1) ligand initiated carbonyl insertion of vinyl carbene complexes 104 and (2) benzoylation of ,/3-unsaturalcd acyl ferrates 105 (Scheme 20)114. X-ray diffraction analysis of these vinylketene complexes indicates that the structure may be best represented as a hybrid between an /j4-dicnc type complex (103) and an jj3-allyl r/1 acyl complex (106). The Fe-Cl distance (ca 1.92 A) is shorter than the Fe-C2, Fe-C3, or Fe-C4 distances (ca 2.1-2.2 A)113a-C. In addition, the C—C—O ketene array is not linear (bend angle ca 135°). 

Ismaili, H., F.o. Lagugnei-Labarthet, and M.S. Workentin, Covalently assembled gold nanoparticle-carbon nanotube hybrids via a photoinitiated carbene addition reaction. Chemistry of Materials, 2011. 23(6) p. 1519-1525. 

The issue of the chemical nature of graphene edges, and thus of (re)active sites, was addressed head-on by Radovic and Bockrath [29]. Density functional theory was used to minimize problems that truly ab initio approaches such as Hartree-Fock are known to have, but careful comparison with experimental results in several seemingly unrelated fields was also performed. The key argument of relevance here is that, rather than being H-terminated, the sites that are most relevant for the chemical (re)activity of sp2 hybridized carbon materials are of carbene- and carbyne-type, as illustrated below for the zigzag (a) and armchair edges (b). 

---