Alkalides are anionic alkali compounds containing e.g. sodide (Na–), kalide (K–), rubidide (Rb–) or caeside (Cs–). Around 90 examples can be found in the Cambridge structure database (see DOI: 10.14469/hpc/3453 for the search query and results). So what about the ammonium analogue, ammonide (NH4–)? A quick search of Scifinder drew a blank! So here I take a look at this intriguingly simple little molecule.‡
Posts Tagged ‘Jahn-Teller’
Ammonide: an alkalide formed from ammonia and resembling an electride.
Sunday, December 17th, 2017Expanding on the curious connection between the norbornyl cation and small-ring aromatics.
Sunday, March 12th, 2017This is another of those posts that has morphed from an earlier one noting the death of the great chemist George Olah. The discussion about the norbornyl cation concentrated on whether this species existed in a single minimum symmetric energy well (the non-classical Winstein/Olah proposal) or a double minimum well connected by a symmetric transition state (the classical Brown proposal). In a comment on the post, I added other examples in chemistry of single/double minima, mapped here to non-classical/classical structures. I now expand on the examples related to small aromatic or anti-aromatic rings.
Following one’s nose: a quadruple bond to carbon. Surely I must be joking!
Thursday, December 16th, 2010Do you fancy a story going from simplicity to complexity, if not absurdity, in three easy steps? Read on! The following problem appears in one of our (past) examination questions in introductory organic chemistry. From relatively mundane beginnings, one can rapidly find oneself in very unexpected territory.