| Sumario: | Metal ions with radical centers in their coordination sphere are key participants in biological and catalytic processes. In the present study, we describe the synthesis of the cAAC:ZnCl adduct (1) using a cyclic alkylaminocarbene (cAAC) as donor ligand. Compound 1 was treated with 2 equiv of KC and LiB(sec-Bu)H to yield a deep blue-colored dicarbene zinc compound (cAAC)Zn (2) and the colorless hydrogenated zinc compound (cAACH)Zn (3), respectively. Compounds 2 and 3 were well characterized by spectroscopic methods and single-crystal X-ray structural analysis. Density functional theory calculations were performed for 2 which indicate that this molecule possesses a singlet biradicaloid character. Moreover, we show the application of 2 in CO activation, which yields a zwitterionic cAAC·CO adduct.
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