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Updated: Jul 26, 2025

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Published on: April 19, 2021
Diberyllocene, a stable compound of Be(I) with a Be-Be bond
Josef T Boronski1, Agamemnon E Crumpton1, Lewis L Wales1
1Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Oxford, OX1 3TA, UK.
Abstract:
The complex diberyllocene, CpBeBeCp (Cp, cyclopentadienyl anion), has been the subject of numerous chemical investigations over the past five decades yet has eluded experimental characterization. We report the preparation and isolation of the compound by the reduction of beryllocene (BeCp2) with a dimeric magnesium(I) complex and determination of its structure in the solid state by means of x-ray crystallography. Diberyllocene acts as a reductant in reactions that form beryllium-aluminum and beryllium-zinc bonds. Quantum chemical calculations indicate parallels between the electronic structure of diberyllocene and the simple homodiatomic species diberyllium (Be2).
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