What is "tetraaminoethylene"

Tetraaminoethylene is a hypothetical organic compound with formula CNH or (HN-)C=C(-NH). Like all geminal polyamines, this compound has never been synthesised and is believed to be extremely unstable.

However, there are many stable compounds that can be viewed as derivatives of tetraaminoethylene, with various organic functional groups substituted for some or all hydrogen atoms. These compounds, which have the general formula (RN)C=C(NR), are collectively called tetraaminoethylenes.

Tetraaminoethylenes are important in organic chemistry as dimers of diaminocarbenes, a type of stable carbene with the general formula (RN)C:.