Newest tetrel bond is five times stronger than its peers

By Katrina Krämer2018-12-20T09:30:00

Source: Alavi Karim et al DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b09367

First intermolecular three-centre four-electron bond could unravel fleeting intermediate’s nature

An unlikely molecule with a five-coordinate carbon contains the strongest carbon tetrel bond ever found. The compound mimics a transition state in the classic bimolecular nucleophilic substitution. The ion takes on a trigonal bipyramidal shape, the same geometry as the activated complex in S_N2 nucleophilic substitutions – a pentacoordinate, high-energy configuration found in every undergraduate chemistry textbook.