Broken vows: Separation of carbene and the lone pair unleashes dicationic revelry

Aiming to isolate R2C2+ carbodication—a reactive intermediate that defies the octet rule—Loh, Bertrand, et al. employ iminate ligands to formally double oxidize a carbene, yielding [R2C=N=C=N=CR2]2+ cumulenic species. This illustrates the crucial role of local chemical environment design in achieving the desired stabilization and reactivity in low-valent main-group centers. Aiming to isolate R2C2+ carbodication—a reactive intermediate that defies the octet rule—Loh, Bertrand, et al. employ iminate ligands to formally double oxidize a carbene, yielding [R2C=N=C=N=CR2]2+ cumulenic species. This illustrates the crucial role of local chemical environment design in achieving the desired stabilization and reactivity in low-valent main-group centers.