Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Isolating Free Carbenes, their Mixed Dimers and Organic Radicals
Published on: April 19, 2019
Ionic rotors. preparation, structure, and dynamic solid-state 2D NMR study of the
James R Gardinier1, Perry J Pellechia, Mark D Smith
1Department of Chemistry, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA.
Abstract:
The reaction between p-(LiC2)2C6H4 (generated in situ from butyllithium and dialkynylbenzene) and 2 equiv of BPh3 affords high yields of [Li(THF)4]2[p-(Ph3BC2)2C6H4], a heretofore missing member of the isoelectronic [p-(Ph3EC2)2C6H4] (E = groups 13-15 element) series. The central phenylene linker is free to rotate in the solid state, as determined by a variable-temperature solid-state 2D spin-echo NMR spectroscopic study. At room temperature, the rate of rotation is at least 20 times faster than that of its carbon-based analogue, presumably a result of Coulombic repulsions minimizing noncovalent interactions between rotating units in the borate salt.
Related Concept Videos
¹H NMR of Labile Protons: Deuterium (²H) Substitution
Structure of Conjugated Dienes
Conjugated dienes are compounds characterized by the presence of alternating double and single bonds. In a conjugated system like 1,3-butadiene, the unhybridized 2p orbital on each carbon overlaps continuously, allowing the π electrons to be delocalized across the entire molecule. In contrast, this type of overlap does not occur in cumulated and isolated dienes, such as 2,3-pentadiene and 1,4-pentadiene, respectively. Instead, the π electrons remain localized between the double...
π Molecular Orbitals of 1,3-Butadiene
The simplest conjugated diene is 1,3-butadiene: a four-carbon system where each carbon is sp2-hybridized and has an unhybridized p orbital that contains an unpaired electron. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals such that the number...
Diels–Alder Reaction: Characteristics of Dienes
Characteristics of the diene
Conformation
The simplest example of a diene is 1,3-butadiene, an acyclic conjugated π system. At room temperature, the molecule exists as a mixture of s-cis and s-trans conformers by virtue of rotation around the carbon–carbon single bond. Although the s-trans isomer is more stable, the...
[3,3] Sigmatropic Rearrangement of 1,5-Dienes: Cope Rearrangement
Stability of Conjugated Dienes
A comparison of the enthalpies of hydrogenation of dienes reveals that conjugated dienes release less heat on hydrogenation, rendering them more stable than their nonconjugated analogs.

