Divalent Carbon(0) Chemistry, Part 1: Parent Compounds

Quantum-chemical calculations with DFT (BP86) and ab initio methods [MP2, SCS-MP2, CCSD(T)] have been carried out for the molecules C(PH(3))(2) (1), C(PMe(3))(2) (2), C(PPh(3))(2) (3), C(PPh(3))(CO) (4), C(CO)(2) (5), C(NHC(H))(2) (6), C(NHC(Me))(2) (7) (Me(2)N)(2)C=C=C(NMe(2))(2) (8), and NHC (9), where NHC=N-heterocyclic carbene and NHC(Me)=N-methyl-substituted NHC. The electronic structure in 1-9 was analyzed with charge- and energy-partitioning methods. The results show that the bonding situations in L(2)C compounds 1-8 can be interpreted in terms of donor-acceptor interactions between closed-shell ligands L and a carbon atom which has two lone-pair orbitals L–>CC((1)D) donor-acceptor bonds are roughly twice as strong as the respective L–>BH(3) bond.