Divalent carbon species called carbenes are capable of fleeting existence. For example, methylene, : CH2, is the simplest carbene. The two unshared electrons in methylene can be either paired in a single orbital or unpaired in different orbitals. Predict the type of hybridization you expect carbon to adopt in singlet (spin-paired) methylene and triplet (spin-unpaired) methylene. Draw a picture of each, and identify the valence orbitals on carbon. | Numerade