Gas-phase synthesis and structure of thorium benzyne complexes.

The thorium benzyne complex (η 2 -C 6 H 4 )ThCl 3 - was synthesized in the gas phase through consecutive decarboxylation and dehydrochlorination from the (C 6 H 5 CO 2 )ThCl 4 - precursor upon collision-induced dissociation. Theoretical calculations suggest that (η 2 -C 6 H 4 )ThCl 3 - exhibits a metallacyclopropene structure with two polarized Th-C benzyne σ bonds. This procedure can be generally extended to the synthesis of a wide range of gas-phase thorium benzyne complexes.