Tetraazafulvalenes are super electron donors but they are elusive – only one has ever been isolated before. Scientists in the UK have managed to make a series of them by reacting imidazolium salts with their derived carbenes. They are very reactive but the mixture of precursor salt and base still produces the same powerful reductive chemistry that is the hallmark of tetraazafulvalenes.
Link to journal article
Imidazole-derived Carbenes and their Elusive Tetraazafulvalene Dimers
P I Jolly et al, Chem. Sci., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2sc20054f
