A polar copper-Boron One-Electron σ-bond

Virtually all chemical bonds consist of one or several pairs of electrons shared by two atoms. Examples of σ-bonds made of a single electron delocalized over two neighboring atoms were until recently found only in gas-phase cations such as H₂⁺ and Li₂ ⁺ and in highly unstable species generated in solid matrices. Only in the past decade was bona fide one-electron bonding observed for molecules in fluid solution. Here we report the isolation and structural characterization of a thermally stable compound featuring a Cu-B one-electron bond, as well as its oxidized (nonbonded) and reduced (two-electrons-bonded) congeners. This triad provides an excellent opportunity to study the degree of σ-bonding in a metalloboratrane as a function of electron count.