A diboryne in chemistry is a

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...

containing a boron–boron

triple bond A triple bond in chemistry is a chemical bond between two atoms involving six bonding electrons instead of the usual two in a covalent single bond. Triple bonds are stronger than the equivalent single bonds or double bonds, with a bond order o ...

. Such compounds are of fundamental importance in the study of chemical bonding, though only few have been reported. A diboryne stabilized by two carbon monoxide groups, (OC)B≡B(CO), was reported isolated in

matrix isolation Matrix isolation is an experimental technique used in chemistry and physics. It generally involves a material being trapped within an unreactive matrix. A ''host'' matrix is a continuous solid phase in which ''guest'' particles (atoms, molecules, i ...

in 2002. A diboryne stable at room temperature with two ''N''-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) units was reported by Holger Braunschweig et al. in 2012. In terms of qualitative

molecular orbital theory In chemistry, molecular orbital theory (MO theory or MOT) is a method for describing the electronic structure of molecules using quantum mechanics. It was proposed early in the 20th century. In molecular orbital theory, electrons in a molecul ...

, the B₂ molecule itself is expected to have a single bond, but with NHC ligands, the third excited state yields a triple bond.

References

{{reflist Boron compounds

See also

References