Anti-aromatic compounds, as well as small cyclic alkynes or carbynes, are particularly challenging synthetic goals. The combination of their destabilizing features hinders attempts to prepare molecules such as pentalyne, an 8π-electron anti-aromatic bicycle with extremely high ring strain. Here we describe the facile synthesis of osmapentalyne derivatives that are thermally viable, despite containing the smallest angles observed so far at a carbyne carbon. The compounds are characterized using X-ray crystallography, and their computed energies and magnetic properties reveal aromatic character. Hence, the incorporation of the osmium centre not only reduces the ring strain of the parent pentalyne, but also converts its Hückel anti-aromaticity into Craig-type Möbius aromaticity in the metallapentalynes. The concept of aromaticity is thus extended to five-membered rings containing a metal-carbon triple bond. Moreover, these metal-aromatic compounds exhibit unusual optical effects such as near-infrared photoluminescence with particularly large Stokes shifts, long lifetimes and aggregation enhancement.

In general, aromaticity can be clarified as π- and σ-aromaticity according to the type of electrons with major contributions. The traditional π-aromaticity generally describes the π-conjugation in fully unsaturated rings whereas σ-aromaticity may stabilize fully saturated rings with delocalization caused by σ-electron conjugation. Reported herein is an example of σ-aromaticity in an unsaturated three-membered ring (3 MR), which is supported by experimental observations and theoretical calculations. Specifically, when the 3 MR in cyclopropaosmapentalene is cleaved by ethane through two isodesmic reactions, both of them are highly endothermic (+29.7 and +35.0 kcal mol(-1)). These positive values are in sharp contrast to the expected exothermicity, thus indicating aromaticity in the 3 MR. Further nucleus-independent chemical shift and anisotropy of the current-induced density calculations reveal the nature of σ-aromaticity in the unsaturated 3 MR.

In polyketide biosynthesis, ring formation is one of the key diversification steps. Olivetolic acid cyclase (OAC) from Cannabis sativa, involved in cannabinoid biosynthesis, is the only known plant polyketide cyclase. In addition, it is the only functionally characterized plant a+b barrel (DABB) protein that catalyzes the C2-C7 aldol cyclization of the linear pentyl tetra-b-ketide CoA as the substrate, to generate olivetolic acid (OA). Herein, we solved the OAC apo and OAC-OA complex binary crystal structures at 1.32 and 1.70A resolutions, respectively. The crystal structures revealed that the enzyme indeed belongs to the DABB superfamily, as previously proposed, and possesses a unique active-site cavity containing the pentyl-binding hydrophobic pocket and the polyketide binding site, which have never been observed among the functionally and structurally characterized bacterial polyketide cyclases. Furthermore, site-directed mutagenesis studies indicated that Tyr72 and His78 function as acid/base catalysts at the catalytic center. Structural and/or functional studies of OAC suggested that the enzyme lacks thioesterase and aromatase activities. These observations demonstrated that OAC employs unique catalytic machinery utilizing acid/base catalytic chemistry for the formation of the precursor of OA. The structural and functional insights obtained in this work thus provide the foundation for analyses of the plant polyketide cyclases that will be discovered in the future.

Although the formation of metal–carbon σ bonds is a fundamental principle in organometallic chemistry, the direct bonding of one organic molecule with one metal center to generate more than two metal–carbon σ bonds remains a challenge. Herein, we report an aromaticity-driven method whereby multiyne chains are used to construct three metal–carbon σ bonds in a one-pot reaction under mild conditions. In this method, multiyne chains act as ligand precursors capable of chelating an osmium center to yield planar metallapolycycles, which exhibit aromaticity and good stability. The direct assembly of various multiyne chains with commercially available metal complexes or even simple metal salts provides a convenient and efficient strategy for constructing all carbon-ligated chelates on the gram scale.

The first incorporation of a second-row transition metal carbyne unit into a ring is realized by virtue of aromaticity.

Metallaaromatics are metallacycles that are derived from the formal replacement of a carbon atom in the framework of organic aromatics with a metal fragment. As an important subclass of metallaaromatics, metallaaromatics that contain main‐group heteroatoms have attracted considerable attention. In the past ten years, we have developed several new methods to construct metallaaromatics as well as those containing main‐group heteroatoms, such as metallapyridine, metallapyridinium, metallapyridyne, metallafuran, metallabenzothiazole, metallabenzoxazole, metallabenzthiophene, aza‐metallapentalene and some novel tricyclic/tetracyclic metallaaromatics. In addition, interesting reactions such as the first hetero‐Diels Alder reaction between 1‐metalla‐1,3‐dienes and nitriles, the first intramolecular nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reaction of metallabenzene, and the first iodine‐mediated electrophilic cyclizations of a metallabenzene complex were demonstrated. In this account, recent and novel approaches for their synthesis and property analyses are summarized. The structural diversity and unique properties of metallaaromatics containing main‐group heteroatoms will strongly inspire further investigation of these species and provide a wide range of potential applications.

In general, aromaticity can be clarified as π‐ and σ‐aromaticity according to the type of electrons with major contributions. The traditional π‐aromaticity generally describes the π‐conjugation in fully unsaturated rings whereas σ‐aromaticity may stabilize fully saturated rings with delocalization caused by σ‐electron conjugation. Reported herein is an example of σ‐aromaticity in an unsaturated three‐membered ring (3 MR), which is supported by experimental observations and theoretical calculations. Specifically, when the 3 MR in cyclopropaosmapentalene is cleaved by ethane through two isodesmic reactions, both of them are highly endothermic (+29.7 and +35.0 kcal mol−1). These positive values are in sharp contrast to the expected exothermicity, thus indicating aromaticity in the 3 MR. Further nucleus‐independent chemical shift and anisotropy of the current‐induced density calculations reveal the nature of σ‐aromaticity in the unsaturated 3 MR.

Carbon ligands have long played an important role in organometallic chemistry. However, previous examples of all-carbon chelating ligands are limited. Herein, we present a novel complex with an eleven-atom carbon chain as a polydentate chelating ligand. This species was formed by the [2+2+2] cycloaddition reaction of two equivalents of an alkyne with an osmapentalyne that contains the smallest carbyne bond angle (127.9°) ever observed. Density functional calculations revealed that electron-donating groups play a key role in the stabilization of this polydentate carbon-chain chelate. This process is also the first [2+2+2] cycloaddition reaction of an alkyne with a late-transition-metal carbyne complex. This study not only enriches the chemistry of polydentate carbon-chain chelates, but also deepens our understanding of the chelating ability of carbon ligands.