The Relation between Bond Lengths and Dissociation Energies of Carbon−Carbon Bonds

Bond lengths (r, Å) of typical carbon−carbon bonds correlate linearly with bond dissociation energies (BDEs) in the full range of single, double, triple, and highly strained bonds, with BDEs ranging from 16 to 230 kcal mol-1. The equation is r = 1.748−0.002371(BDE), tested with 41 typical carbon−carbon bonds, ranging in length from 1.20 to 1.71 Å. This sets a maximum bond length limit of 1.75 Å for carbon−carbon bonds.