The ThC double bond: an experimental and computational study of thorium poly-carbene complexes

The first thorium poly-carbene complexes [(Ph(2)P=S)(2)C](2)Th(DME) (2) and [{[(Ph(2)P=S)(2)C](3)Th}Li(2)(DME)](n) (3) have been prepared and structurally characterized. DFT calculations reveal that the Th=C bond is polarized toward the nucleophilic carbene carbon atom, which is further verified by the experimental observation that the Th=C bond shows a nucleophilic behavior with Ph(2)CO.