Isocyanide

An isocyanide (also called isonitrile or carbylamine) is an organic compound with the functional group –N≡C. It is the isomer of the related nitrile (–C≡N), hence the prefix is isocyano. The organic fragment is connected to the isocyanide group through the nitrogen atom, not via the carbon. They are used as building blocks for the synthesis of other compounds. The C-N distance in isocyanides is 115.8 pm in methyl isocyanide. The C-N-C angles are near 180°. Akin to carbon monoxide, isocyanides are described by two resonance structures, one with a triple bond between the nitrogen and the carbon and one with a double bond between them. The π lone pair of the nitrogen stabilizes the structure and is responsible of the linearity of isocyanides, although the reactivity of isocyanides reflects some carbene character, at least in a formal sense. Thus, both resonance structures are useful representations. They are susceptible to polymerization.