In possessing a lone pair of electrons and an accessible vacant orbital, singlet carbenes resemble transition metal centers and thus could potentially mimic their chemical behavior. Although singlet di(amino)carbenes are inert toward dihydrogen, it is shown that more nucleophilic and electrophilic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes can activate H2 under mild conditions, a reaction that has long been known for transition metals. However, in contrast to transition metals that act as electrophiles toward dihydrogen, these carbenes primarily behave as nucleophiles, creating a hydride-like hydrogen, which then attacks the positively polarized carbon center. This nucleophilic behavior allows these carbenes to activate NH3 as well, a difficult task for transition metals because of the formation of Lewis acid-base adducts.

Bichromophoric molecules can support two spatially separated excited states simultaneously and thus provide novel pathways for electronic state relaxation. Exciton fission, where absorption of a single photon leads to two triplet states, is a potentially useful example of such a pathway. In this paper, a detailed study of exciton fission in three novel phenylene-linked bis(tetracene) molecules is presented. Their spectroscopy is analyzed in terms of a three-state kinetic model in which the singlet excited state can fission into a triplet pair state, which in turn undergoes recombination on a time scale longer than the molecule's radiative lifetime. This model allows us to fit both the prompt and delayed fluorescence decay data quantitatively. The para-phenylene linked bis(tetracene) molecules 1,4-bis(tetracen-5-yl)benzene (1) and 4,4'-bis(tetracen-5-yl)biphenylene (2) show intramolecular exciton fission with yields of approximately 3%, whereas no delayed fluorescence is observed for tetracene or the meta-linked molecule 1,3-bis(tetracen-5-yl)benzene 3. Analysis of the temperature-dependent fluorescence dynamics yields activation energies for fission of (10.0 +/- 0.6) kJ/mol for 1 and (4.1 +/- 0.5) kJ/mol for 2, with Arrhenius prefactors of (1.48 +/- 0.04) x 10(8) s(-1) for 1 and (1.72 +/- 0.02) x 10(7) s(-1) for 2. The observed trends in activation energies are reproduced by ab initio calculations of the independently optimized singlet and triplet energies. The calculations indicate that electronic coupling between the two tetracene units is primarily through-bond, allowing differences in fission rates to be qualitatively explained in terms of the linker structure as well. Our results show that it is important to consider the effects of the linker structure on both energy relaxation and electronic coupling in bichromophoric molecules. This study provides insight into the structural and energetic factors that should be taken into account in the design of exciton fission molecules for possible solar cell applications.

Singlet diradicals are usually not energy minima. As observed by femtosecond spectroscopy, they readily couple to form final sigma bonds. Substituent effects allow lifetimes to increase into the microsecond range. Taking advantage of the properties of hetero-elements, a diradical has been prepared that is indefinitely stable at room temperature. The availability of diradicals that can be handled under standard laboratory conditions will lead to further insight into their chemical and physical properties, raising the likelihood of practical applications, especially in the field of molecular materials such as electrical conductors and ferromagnets.

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A quick fix: In contrast to cyclic diamino carbenes, stable alkyl amino carbenes react with CO to give stable ketenes (see scheme, top). Contrary to the acyclic versions, cyclic amino ketenes cannot escape from the destabilizing n–π donation of the nitrogen lone pair, which induces a diradical character and unusual optical (see scheme, bottom and photographs of crystals) and NMR spectroscopic properties.

Like many of the molecular species that have been detected in the interstellar medium, the singlet carbene cyclopropenylidene (C 3 H 2 ) has been presumed to be too unstable to isolate in the laboratory. However, by appending π-electron-donating amino groups to the triangular skeleton, we prepared a cyclopropenylidene derivative that is stable at room temperature. In contrast to previously isolated carbenes, this compound does not require a heteroatom adjacent to the electron-deficient carbon to confer stability. Despite the presence of amino groups, the geometric parameters of the cyclic skeleton, revealed by x-ray crystallography, are only slightly perturbed relative to those of the calculated structure of unsubstituted cyclopropenylidene. Stable cyclopropenylidene derivatives might thus serve as models for a better understanding of the formation of carbon-bearing molecules in the interstellar medium.

Just like transition metal complexes, N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) promote the aggregation of white phosphorus (P4) as shown by the high yield synthesis of a P12 cluster capped by two NHCs. The nuclearity observed is equal to that of the largest phosphorus cluster prepared using transition metals, but the architecture of the P12 core is entirely novel.

The reaction of decamethylsilicocene, (Me5C5)2Si, with the proton-transfer reagent Me5C5H2+B(C6F5)4- produces the salt (Me5C5)Si+ B(C6F5)4(2), which can be isolated as a colorless solid that is stable in the absence of air and moisture. The crystal structure reveals the presence of a cationic pi complex with an eta5-pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligand bound to a bare silicon center. The 29Si nuclear magnetic resonance at very high field (delta = - 400.2 parts per million) is typical of a pi complex of divalent silicon. The (eta5-Me5C5)Si+ cation in 2 can be regarded as the "resting state" of a silyliumylidene-type (eta1-Me5C5)Si+ cation. The availability of 2 opens new synthetic avenues in organosilicon chemistry. For example, 2 reacted with lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide to give the disilene E-[(eta1-Me5C5)[N(SiMe3)2]Si]2(3).