Bending the rules for arynes

Two teams of synthetic and computational chemists in the US have developed complementary explanations for the unusual selectivity observed in reactions of indolynes. The results point to the possibility of a more general model for predicting the reactivity of arynes based on ring distortion and polarisation and open up interesting possibilities for complex molecule synthesis. 

Arynes are an unusual class of reactive intermediate molecules, often drawn as aromatic ring systems containing a carbon-carbon triple bond, or as diradicals. Indolynes are a subset of these based on the indole ring system, and whereas many arynes show very little selectivity in their reactions, indolynes can be remarkably discriminating - particularly when the formal triple bond is close to the indole nitrogen atom (in the 6,7-position).   More...

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2010/January/18011001.asp