Recent advances in the field of main-group mono- and diatomic "allotropes" stabilised by neutral ligands.

The study of ligand stabilised mono- and diatomic zero oxidation state complexes is a young and fascinating topic. This area merges the fields of low-oxidation-state main-group chemistry, homoatomic multiple bonding and fundamental coordination chemistry. As with a great deal of recent coordination chemistry within the d-block, carbene ligands are clearly the star of the show, highlighting their importance within the p-block as well. This Minireview focuses on the significant developments of the past two years.