Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 7, 2026

Isolating Free Carbenes, their Mixed Dimers and Organic Radicals
Published on: April 19, 2019
Cubane and dicubane complexes stabilised by sterically demanding m-terphenyl ligands
Benjamin M Gridley1, Toby J Blundell, Graeme J Moxey
1School of Chemistry, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, UK. Deborah.Kays@nottingham.ac.uk.
Abstract:
The reaction between sterically demanding m-terphenyl lithiate complexes and cadmium dihalides yields unusual cubanes where changes in ligand bulk afford different formulations, in particular a rare heterodicubane structure.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Complexation Equilibria: Factors Influencing Stability of Complexes
Stability of Substituted Cyclohexanes
The two chair conformations of cyclohexanes undergo rapid interconversion at room temperature. Both forms have identical energies and stabilities, each comprising equal amounts of the equilibrium mixture. Replacing a hydrogen atom with a functional group makes the two conformations energetically non-equivalent.
For example, in...
Crystal Field Theory - Tetrahedral and Square Planar Complexes
Crystal field theory (CFT) is applicable to molecules in geometries other than octahedral. In octahedral complexes, the lobes of the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals point directly at the ligands. For tetrahedral complexes, the d orbitals remain in place, but with only four ligands located between the axes. None of the orbitals points directly at the tetrahedral ligands. However, the dx2−y2 and dz2 orbitals (along the Cartesian axes) overlap with the ligands less than the dxy,...
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
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.
Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect

