Tert-Butyl isocyanide

By virtue of the lone electron pair on carbon, isocyanides serves as ligands in coordination chemistry, especially with metals in the 0, +1, and +2 oxidation states. tert-Butyl isocyanide has been shown to stabilize metals in unusual oxidation states, such as Pd(I). : Pd(dba)2 + PdCl2(C6H5CN)2 + 4 t-BuNC → [(t-BuNC)2PdCl]2 + 2 dba + 2 C6H5CN tert-Butyl isocyanide can form hepta-coordinate homoleptic complexes, despite having a large t-Bu group, which is held far away from the metal center because of the linearity of the M-C≡N-C linkages. tert-Butyl isocycanide forms complexes that are stoichiometrically analogous to certain binary metal carbonyl complexes, such as Fe2(CO)9 and Fe2(tBuNC)9. ==Safety==

tert-Butyl isocyanide is toxic. Its behavior is similar to that of its close electronic relative carbon monoxide. ==References==