Stable salts unlock alternative to potentially explosive reagents in carbene chemistry

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Add as preferred source Alkylthianthrenium salts as carbene precursors. Credit: Nature (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-11108-z Many useful reactions in chemistry come with a trade-off: the reactive reagents that make them effective can also present practical and safety challenges. Carbene chemistry is one such example. For decades, chemists have relied on diazo compounds to generate reactive carbenes, even though diazoalkanes can be toxic, unstable and potentially explosive.

Researchers at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung have now developed a safer approach to accessing metal carbenes.

The study, published in Nature , shows that bench-stable thianthrenium salts can serve as practical and versatile precursors for carbene-transfer reactions.