TY - JOUR A1 - Weiser, Jonas A1 - Cui, Jingjing A1 - Dewhurst, Rian D. A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Engels, Bernd A1 - Fantuzzi, Felipe T1 - Structure and bonding of proximity‐enforced main‐group dimers stabilized by a rigid naphthyridine diimine ligand JF - Journal of Computational Chemistry N2 - The development of ligands capable of effectively stabilizing highly reactive main‐group species has led to the experimental realization of a variety of systems with fascinating properties. In this work, we computationally investigate the electronic, structural, energetic, and bonding features of proximity‐enforced group 13–15 homodimers stabilized by a rigid expanded pincer ligand based on the 1,8‐naphthyridine (napy) core. We show that the redox‐active naphthyridine diimine (NDI) ligand enables a wide variety of structural motifs and element‐element interaction modes, the latter ranging from isolated, element‐centered lone pairs (e.g., E = Si, Ge) to cases where through‐space π bonds (E = Pb), element‐element multiple bonds (E = P, As) and biradical ground states (E = N) are observed. Our results hint at the feasibility of NDI‐E2 species as viable synthetic targets, highlighting the versatility and potential applications of napy‐based ligands in main‐group chemistry. KW - bond theory KW - computational chemistry KW - density functional calculations KW - main group elements KW - N ligands Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-312586 VL - 44 IS - 3 SP - 456 EP - 467 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lindl, Felix A1 - Lamprecht, Anna A1 - Arrowsmith, Merle A1 - Khitro, Eugen A1 - Rempel, Anna A1 - Dietz, Maximilian A1 - Wellnitz, Tim A1 - Bélanger‐Chabot, Guillaume A1 - Stoy, Andreas A1 - Paprocki, Valerie A1 - Prieschl, Dominik A1 - Lenczyk, Carsten A1 - Ramler, Jacqueline A1 - Lichtenberg, Crispin A1 - Braunschweig, Holger T1 - Aromatic 1,2‐Azaborinin‐1‐yls as Electron‐Withdrawing Anionic Nitrogen Ligands for Main Group Elements JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - The 2‐aryl‐3,4,5,6‐tetraphenyl‐1,2‐azaborinines 1‐EMe\(_{3}\) and 2‐EMe\(_{3}\) (E=Si, Sn; aryl=Ph (1), Mes (=2,4,6‐trimethylphenyl, 2)) were synthesized by ring‐expansion of borole precursors with N\(_{3}\)EMe\(_{3}\)‐derived nitrenes. Desilylative hydrolysis of 1‐ and 2‐SiMe\(_{3}\) yielded the corresponding N‐protonated azaborinines, which were deprotonated with nBuLi or MN(SiMe\(_{3}\))\(_{2}\) (M=Na, K) to the corresponding group 1 salts, 1‐M and 2‐M. While the lithium salts crystallized as monomeric Lewis base adducts, the potassium salts formed coordination polymers or oligomers via intramolecular K⋅⋅⋅aryl π interactions. The reaction of 1‐M or 2‐M with CO\(_{2}\) yielded N‐carboxylate salts, which were derivatized by salt metathesis to methyl and silyl esters. Salt metathesis of 1‐M or 2‐M with methyl triflate, [Cp*BeCl] (Cp*=C\(_{5}\)Me\(_{5}\)), BBr\(_{2}\)Ar (Ar=Ph, Mes, 2‐thienyl), ECl\(_{3}\) (E=B, Al, Ga) and PX\(_{3}\) (X=Cl, Br) afforded the respective group 2, 13 and 15 1,2‐azaborinin‐2‐yl complexes. Salt metathesis of 1‐K with BBr\(_{3}\) resulted not only in N‐borylation but also Ph‐Br exchange between the endocyclic and exocyclic boron atoms. Solution \(^{11}\)B NMR data suggest that the 1,2‐azaborinin‐2‐yl ligand is similarly electron‐withdrawing to a bromide. In the solid state the endocyclic bond length alternation and the twisting of the C\(_{4}\)BN ring increase with the sterics of the substituents at the boron and nitrogen atoms, respectively. Regression analyses revealed that the downfield shift of the endocyclic \(^{11}\)B NMR resonances is linearly correlated to both the degree of twisting of the C\(_{4}\)BN ring and the tilt angle of the N‐substituent. Calculations indicate that the 1,2‐azaborinin‐1‐yl ligand has no sizeable π‐donor ability and that the aromaticity of the ring can be subtly tuned by the electronics of the N‐substituent. KW - 1,2-azaborinine KW - aromaticity KW - crystallographic analyses KW - N-functionalization KW - salt metathesis Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-312222 VL - 29 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Witte, Robert A1 - Arrowsmith, Merle A1 - Lamprecht, Anna A1 - Schorr, Fabian A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Braunschweig, Holger T1 - C−C and C−N Bond Activation, Lewis‐Base Coordination and One‐ and Two‐Electron Oxidation at a Linear Aminoborylene JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - A cyclic alkyl(amino)carbene (CAAC)‐stabilized dicoordinate aminoborylene is synthesized by the twofold reduction of a [(CAAC)BCl\(_{2}\)(TMP)] (TMP=2,6‐tetramethylpiperidyl) precursor. NMR‐spectroscopic, X‐ray crystallographic and computational analyses confirm the cumulenic nature of the central C=B=N moiety. Irradiation of [(CAAC)B(TMP)] (2) resulted in an intramolecular C−C bond activation, leading to a doubly‐fused C\(_{10}\)BN heterocycle, while the reaction with acetonitrile resulted in an aryl migration from the CAAC to the acetonitrile nitrogen atom, concomitant with tautomerization of the latter to a boron‐bound allylamino ligand. One‐electron oxidation of 2 with CuX (X=Cl, Br) afforded the corresponding amino(halo)boryl radicals, which were characterized by EPR spectroscopy and DFT calculations. Placing 2 under an atmosphere of CO afforded the tricoordinate (CAAC,CO)‐stabilized aminoborylene. Finally, the twofold oxidation of 2 with chalcogens led, in the case of N\(_{2}\)O and sulfur, to the splitting of the B−C\(_{CAAC}\) bond and formation of the 2,4‐diamino‐1,3,2,4‐dichalcogenadiboretanes and CAAC‐chalcogen adducts, whereas with selenium a monomeric boraselenone was isolated, which showed some degree of B−Se multiple bonding. KW - bond activation KW - boraselenone KW - dicoordinate borylene KW - one-electron oxidation KW - push-pull stabilization Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-312491 VL - 29 IS - 16 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brückner, Tobias A1 - Ritschel, Benedikt A1 - Jiménez‐Halla, J. Oscar C. A1 - Fantuzzi, Felipe A1 - Duwe, Dario A1 - Markl, Christian A1 - Dewhurst, Rian D. A1 - Dietz, Maximilian A1 - Braunschweig, Holger T1 - Metal‐Free Intermolecular C−H Borylation of N‐Heterocycles at B−B Multiple Bonds JF - Angewandte Chemie International Edition N2 - Carbene‐stabilized diborynes of the form LBBL (L=N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) or cyclic alkyl(amino)carbene (CAAC)) induce rapid, high yielding, intermolecular ortho‐C−H borylation at N‐heterocycles at room temperature. A simple pyridyldiborene is formed when an NHC‐stabilized diboryne is combined with pyridine, while a CAAC‐stabilized diboryne leads to activation of two pyridine molecules to give a tricyclic alkylideneborane, which can be forced to undergo a further H‐shift resulting in a zwitterionic, doubly benzo‐fused 1,3,2,5‐diazadiborinine by heating. Use of the extended N‐heteroaromatic quinoline leads to a borylmethyleneborane under mild conditions via an unprecedented boron‐carbon exchange process. KW - Boron KW - Borylation KW - Carbene KW - Diboryne KW - Hydroarylation Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-312385 VL - 62 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Härterich, Marcel A1 - Matler, Alexander A1 - Dewhurst, Rian D. A1 - Sachs, Andreas A1 - Oppel, Kai A1 - Stoy, Andreas A1 - Braunschweig, Holger T1 - A step-for-step main-group replica of the Fischer carbene synthesis at a borylene carbonyl JF - Nature Communications N2 - The Fischer carbene synthesis, involving the conversion of a transition metal (TM)-bound CO ligand to a carbene ligand of the form [=C(OR’)R] (R, R’ = organyl groups), is one of the seminal reactions in the history of organometallic chemistry. Carbonyl complexes of p-block elements, of the form [E(CO)n] (E = main-group fragment), are much less abundant than their TM cousins; this scarcity and the general instability of low-valent p-block species means that replicating the historical reactions of TM carbonyls is often very difficult. Here we present a step-for-step replica of the Fischer carbene synthesis at a borylene carbonyl involving nucleophilic attack at the carbonyl carbon followed by electrophilic quenching at the resultant acylate oxygen atom. These reactions provide borylene acylates and alkoxy-/silyloxy-substituted alkylideneboranes, main-group analogues of the archetypal transition metal acylate and Fischer carbene families, respectively. When either the incoming electrophile or the boron center has a modest steric profile, the electrophile instead attacks at the boron atom, leading to carbene-stabilized acylboranes – boron analogues of the well-known transition metal acyl complexes. These results constitute faithful main-group replicas of a number of historical organometallic processes and pave the way to further advances in the field of main-group metallomimetics. KW - chemical bonding KW - ligands Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357270 VL - 14 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Full, Felix A1 - Wölflick, Quentin A1 - Radacki, Krzysztof A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Nowak‐Król, Agnieszka T1 - Enhanced Optical Properties of Azaborole Helicenes by Lateral and Helical Extension JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - The synthesis and characterization of laterally extended azabora[5]‐, ‐[6]‐ and ‐[7]helicenes, assembled from N‐heteroaromatic and dibenzo[g,p]chrysene building blocks is described. Formally, the π‐conjugated systems of the pristine azaborole helicenes were enlarged with a phenanthrene unit leading to compounds with large Stokes shifts, significantly enhanced luminescence quantum yields (Φ) and dissymmetry factors (g\(_{lum}\)). The beneficial effect on optical properties was also observed for helical elongation. The combined contributions of lateral and helical extensions resulted in a compound showing green emission with Φ of 0.31 and |g\(_{lum}\)| of 2.2×10\(^{−3}\), highest within the series of π‐extended azaborahelicenes and superior to emission intensity and chiroptical response of its non‐extended congener. This study shows that helical and lateral extensions of π‐conjugated systems are viable strategies to improve features of azaborole helicenes. In addition, single crystal X‐ray analysis of configurationally stable [6]‐ and ‐[7]helicenes was used to provide insight into their packing arrangements. KW - azaborole KW - circularly polarized luminescence KW - fluorescence KW - helicene KW - π-extension Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-293671 VL - 28 IS - 62 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kole, Goutam Kumar A1 - Košćak, Marta A1 - Amar, Anissa A1 - Majhen, Dragomira A1 - Božinović, Ksenija A1 - Brkljaca, Zlatko A1 - Ferger, Matthias A1 - Michail, Evripidis A1 - Lorenzen, Sabine A1 - Friedrich, Alexandra A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Moos, Michael A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Boucekkine, Abdou A1 - Lambert, Christoph A1 - Halet, Jean‐François A1 - Piantanida, Ivo A1 - Müller‐Buschbaum, Klaus A1 - Marder, Todd B. T1 - Methyl Viologens of Bis‐(4’‐Pyridylethynyl)Arenes – Structures, Photophysical and Electrochemical Studies, and their Potential Application in Biology JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - A series of bis‐(4’‐pyridylethynyl)arenes (arene=benzene, tetrafluorobenzene, and anthracene) were synthesized and their bis‐N‐methylpyridinium compounds were investigated as a class of π‐extended methyl viologens. Their structures were determined by single crystal X‐ray diffraction, and their photophysical and electrochemical properties (cyclic voltammetry), as well as their interactions with DNA/RNA were investigated. The dications showed bathochromic shifts in emission compared to the neutral compounds. The neutral compounds showed very small Stokes shifts, which are a little larger for the dications. All of the compounds showed very short fluorescence lifetimes (<4 ns). The neutral compound with an anthracene core has a quantum yield of almost unity. With stronger acceptors, the analogous bis‐N‐methylpyridinium compound showed a larger two‐photon absorption cross‐section than its neutral precursor. All of the dicationic compounds interact with DNA/RNA; while the compounds with benzene and tetrafluorobenzene cores bind in the grooves, the one with an anthracene core intercalates as a consequence of its large, condensed aromatic linker moiety, and it aggregates within the polynucleotide when in excess over DNA/RNA. Moreover, all cationic compounds showed highly specific CD spectra upon binding to ds‐DNA/RNA, attributed to the rare case of forcing the planar, achiral molecule into a chiral rotamer, and negligible toxicity toward human cell lines at ≤10 μM concentrations. The anthracene‐analogue exhibited intracellular accumulation within lysosomes, preventing its interaction with cellular DNA/RNA. However, cytotoxicity was evident at 1 μM concentration upon exposure to light, due to singlet oxygen generation within cells. These multi‐faceted features, in combination with its two‐photon absorption properties, suggest it to be a promising lead compound for development of novel light‐activated theranostic agents. KW - cell imaging KW - DNA/RNA binding KW - methyl viologen KW - singlet oxygen KW - two-photon absorption Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-287126 VL - 28 IS - 40 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferger, Matthias A1 - Roger, Chantal A1 - Köster, Eva A1 - Rauch, Florian A1 - Lorenzen, Sabine A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Friedrich, Alexandra A1 - Košćak, Marta A1 - Nestić, Davor A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Lambert, Christoph A1 - Piantanida, Ivo A1 - Marder, Todd B. T1 - Electron‐Rich EDOT Linkers in Tetracationic bis‐Triarylborane Chromophores: Influence on Water Stability, Biomacromolecule Sensing, and Photoinduced Cytotoxicity JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - Three novel tetracationic bis‐triarylboranes with 3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) linkers, and their neutral precursors, showed significant red‐shifted absorption and emission compared to their thiophene‐containing analogues, with one of the EDOT‐derivatives emitting in the NIR region. Only the EDOT‐linked trixylylborane tetracation was stable in aqueous solution, indicating that direct attachment of a thiophene or even 3‐methylthiophene to the boron atom is insufficient to provide hydrolytic stability in aqueous solution. Further comparative analysis of the EDOT‐linked trixylylborane tetracation and its bis‐thiophene analogue revealed efficient photo‐induced singlet oxygen production, with the consequent biological implications. Thus, both analogues bind strongly to ds‐DNA and BSA, very efficiently enter living human cells, accumulate in several different cytoplasmic organelles with no toxic effect but, under intense visible light irradiation, they exhibit almost instantaneous and very strong cytotoxic effects, presumably attributed to singlet oxygen production. Thus, both compounds are intriguing theranostic agents, whose intracellular and probably intra‐tissue location can be monitored by strong fluorescence, allowing switching on of the strong bioactivity by well‐focused visible light. KW - boranes KW - DNA/RNA sensors KW - fluorescent probes KW - singlet oxygen KW - theranostics Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-287241 VL - 28 IS - 48 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bachmann, Jonas A1 - Helbig, Andreas A1 - Crumbach, Merian A1 - Krummenacher, Ivo A1 - Braunschweig, Holger A1 - Helten, Holger T1 - Fusion of Aza‐ and Oxadiborepins with Furans in a Reversible Ring‐Opening Process Furnishes Versatile Building Blocks for Extended π‐Conjugated Materials JF - Chemistry – A European Journal N2 - A modular synthesis of both difurooxa‐ and difuroazadiborepins from a common precursor is demonstrated. Starting from 2,2′‐bifuran, after protection of the positions 5 and 5’ with bulky silyl groups, formation of the novel polycycles proceeds through opening of the furan rings to a dialkyne and subsequent re‐cyclization in the borylation step. The resulting bifuran‐fused diborepins show pronounced stability, highly planar tricyclic structures, and intense blue light emission. Deprotection and transformation into dibrominated building blocks that can be incorporated into π‐extended materials can be performed in one step. Detailed DFT calculations provide information about the aromaticity of the constituent rings of this polycycle. KW - aromaticity KW - boron KW - BN compounds KW - furan KW - polycycles Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-293926 VL - 28 IS - 63 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dietz, Maximilian A1 - Arrowsmith, Merle A1 - Reichl, Stephan A1 - Lugo‐Fuentes, Leonardo I. A1 - Jiménez‐Halla, J. Oscar C. A1 - Scheer, Manfred A1 - Braunschweig, Holger T1 - Stable Two‐Legged Parent Piano‐Stool and Mixed Diborabenzene‐E\(_{4}\) (E=P, As) Sandwich Complexes of Group 8 JF - Angewandte Chemie International Edition N2 - A cyclic alkyl(amino)carbene‐stabilized 1,4‐diborabenzene (DBB) ligand enables the isolation of 18‐electron two‐legged parent piano‐stool Fe\(^{0}\) and Ru\(^{0}\) complexes, [(η\(^{6}\)‐DBB)M(CO)\(_{2}\)], the ruthenium complex being the first of its kind to be structurally characterized. [(η\(^{6}\)‐DBB)Fe(CO)\(_{2}\)] reacts with E\(_{4}\) (E=P, As) to yield mixed DBB‐cyclo‐E\(_{4}\) sandwich complexes with planar E\(_{4}\)\(^{2-}\) ligands. Computational analyses confirm the strong electron‐donating capacity of the DBB ligand and show that the E\(_{4}\) ligand is bound by four equivalent Fe−P σ bonds. KW - 1,4-Diborabenzene KW - bonding KW - group 8 metals KW - Parent Piano-Stool Complex KW - Pnictogen reduction Y1 - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-293880 VL - 61 IS - 36 ER -