Generation of "Sumanenylidene": A Ground-State Triplet Carbene on a Curved π-Conjugated Periphery

We have observed the generation of sumanenylidene (2), a divalent, neutral-carbon species at the benzylic position of sumanene (1). We also clarified both experimentally and theoretically that the ground state of compound 2 was a triplet state and that its singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔE_ST ) was similar to that in fluorenylidene. The curved structure of compound 2 led to slightly better spin delocalization over the two adjacent aromatic rings than in planar systems, because of the unpaired spins on the σ and π orbitals. Synthetic application of the carbene precursor, diazosumanene (5), with a variety of thiocarbonyl compounds revealed its utility for the preparation of tetrasubstituted alkene compounds (e.g., that contain a strongly electron-donating unit) that are directly conjugated to the sumanene (1) moiety.