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A series of methylene-bridged bis(triarylboranes) has been synthesized via two complementary routes using metal-free catalytic Si/B exchange condensation under mild conditions. The title compounds comprise two borane moieties that show effective internal π-conjugation involving the respective boron centers and the adjacent hetaryl groups. Conjugation between both borane units, however, is disrupted by the aliphatic linker. Cyclic voltammetry revealed minimal electronic communication between the boron centers, as evidenced by two closely spaced reduction processes. The UV-vis spectra showed bathochromic shifted absorption bands compared to related monoboranes, which is attributed to the methylene bridge. A further red-shift results upon introduction of methyl or SiMe\(_3\) groups at the terminal thiophene rings.
Boroles are attracting broad interest for their myriad and diverse applications, including in synthesis, small molecule activation and functional materials. Their properties and reactivity are closely linked to the cyclic conjugated diene system, which has been shown to participate in cycloaddition reactions, such as the Diels-Alder reaction with alkynes. The reaction steps leading to boranorbornadienes, borepins and tricyclic boracyclohexenes from the thermal reaction of boroles with alkynes are seemingly well understood as judged from the literature. Herein, we question the long-established mechanistic picture of pericyclic rearrangements by demonstrating that seven-membered borepins (i. e., heptaphenylborepin and two derivatives substituted with a thienyl and chloride substituent on boron) exist in a dynamic equilibrium with the corresponding bicyclic boranorbornadienes, the direct Diels-Alder products, but are not isolable products from the reactions. Heating gradually converts the isomeric mixtures into fluorescent tricyclic boracyclohexenes, the most stable isomers in the series. Results from mechanistic DFT calculations reveal that the tricyclic compounds derive from the boranorbornadienes and not the borepins, which were previously believed to be intermediates in purely pericyclic processes.
A nickel/N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalytic system has been developed for the borylation of aryl sulfoxides with B\(_{2}\)(neop)\(_{2}\) (neop=neopentyl glycolato). A wide range of aryl sulfoxides with different electronic and steric properties were converted into the corresponding arylboronic esters in good yields. The regioselective borylation of unsymmetric diaryl sulfoxides was also feasible leading to borylation of the sterically less encumbered aryl substituent. Competition experiments demonstrated that an electron-deficient aryl moiety reacts preferentially. The origin of the selectivity in the Ni-catalyzed borylation of electronically biased unsymmetrical diaryl sulfoxide lies in the oxidative addition step of the catalytic cycle, as oxidative addition of methoxyphenyl 4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl sulfoxide to the Ni(0) complex occurs selectively to give the structurally characterized complex trans-[Ni(ICy)\(_{2}\)(4-CF\(_{3}\)-C\(_{6}\)H\(_{4}\)){(SO)-4-MeO-C\(_{6}\)H\(_{4}\)}] 4. For complex 5, the isomer trans-[Ni(ICy)\(_{2}\)(C\(_{6}\)H\(_{5}\))(OSC\(_{6}\)H\(_{5}\))] 5-I was structurally characterized in which the phenyl sulfinyl ligand is bound via the oxygen atom to nickel. In solution, the complex trans-[Ni(ICy)\(_{2}\)(C\(_{6}\)H\(_{5}\))(OSC\(_{6}\)H\(_{5}\))] 5-I is in equilibrium with the S-bonded isomer trans-[Ni(ICy)\(_{2}\)(C\(_{6}\)H\(_{5}\))(SOC\(_{6}\)H\(_{5}\))] 5, as shown by NMR spectroscopy. DFT calculations reveal that these isomers are separated by a mere 0.3 kJ/mol (M06/def2-TZVP-level of theory) and connected via a transition state trans-[Ni(ICy)\(_{2}\)(C\(_{6}\)H\(_{5}\))(η\(^{2}\)-{SO}-C\(_{6}\)H\(_{5}\))], which lies only 10.8 kcal/mol above 5.