Cyclopropenylidene must be the smallest molecule to be aromatic due to π-electrons, with just three carbon atoms and two hydrogen atoms. It has now been detected in the atmosphere of Titan, one of Saturn’s moons[cite]10.3847/1538-3881/abb679[/cite] and joins benzene, another aromatic molecule together with the protonated version of cyclopropenylidene, C3H3+ also found there.
Archive for November 7th, 2020
An interesting aromatic molecule found in Titan’s atmosphere: Cyclopropenylidene
Saturday, November 7th, 2020A new example of a quadruple bond from carbon – to Fe.
Saturday, November 7th, 2020Way back in 2010, I was writing about an experience I had just had during an organic chemistry tutorial, which morphed into speculation as to whether a carbon atom might sustain a quadruple bond to nitrogen. A decade on, and possibly approaching 100 articles by many authors on the topic, quadruple bonds to carbon continue to fascinate. Now an article as appeared[cite]10.1039/d0cp03436c[/cite] repeating this speculation for a carbon to iron quadruple bond,‡ in the very simple species C⩸Fe(CO)3 (see also a Rh-B equivalent[cite]10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03484[/cite]). This is particularly exciting because of the very real prospect of synthesising this species and perchance getting a crystal structure (something not possible with most of the other quadruply bonded carbon systems studied to date).