Squeezing C-C bonds

Abstract

(Figure Presented) It's not how short you make it, it's how you make it short! A diverse collection of compounds with short C-C single bonds whose lengths range from 1.32 Å to 1.46 Å have been theoretically designed (see structure of a "spiderane"). The strategies for squeezing the C-C bonds (encapsulation, strapping back, and stiffening) allow shorter bonds than hybridization and conjugative effects alone. © 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.