Carbon ligands have long played an important role in organometallic chemistry. However, previous examples of all‐carbon chelating ligands are limited. Herein, we present a novel complex with an eleven‐atom carbon chain as a polydentate chelating ligand. This species was formed by the [2+2+2] cycloaddition reaction of two equivalents of an alkyne with an osmapentalyne that contains the smallest carbyne bond angle (127.9°) ever observed. Density functional calculations revealed that electron‐donating groups play a key role in the stabilization of this polydentate carbon‐chain chelate.

Antiaromatic species are substantially less thermodynamically stable than aromatic moieties. Herein, we report the stabilization of two classical antiaromatic frameworks, cyclobutadiene and pentalene, by introducing one metal fragment through the first [2+2] cycloaddition reaction of a late-transition-metal carbyne with alkynes. Experimental observations and theoretical calculations reveal that the metal fragment decreases the antiaromaticity in cyclobutadiene and pentalene simultaneously, leading to air- and moisture-stable products.

The magic of Os: An unprecedented formal [3+3] cycloaddition reaction of 1 with alkynols affords stable iso-osmabenzenes at room temperature (see scheme). The phosphonium substituent at the Cβ position and the 18e− nature of the compound play key roles in the origin of the high thermal stability of the products. Isomerization of iso-osmabenzenes into η5-cyclopentadienyl complexes through metalated cyclopentadiene intermediates is also described.