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Boron's unique position in the Periodic Table, that is, at the apex of the line separating metals and nonmetals, makes it highly versatile in chemical reactions and applications. Contemporary demand for renewable and clean energy as well as energy‐efficient products has seen boron playing key roles in energy‐related research, such as 1) activating and synthesizing energy‐rich small molecules, 2) storing chemical and electrical energy, and 3) converting electrical energy into light. These applications are fundamentally associated with boron's unique characteristics, such as its electron‐deficiency and the availability of an unoccupied p orbital, which allow the formation of a myriad of compounds with a wide range of chemical and physical properties. For example, boron's ability to achieve a full octet of electrons with four covalent bonds and a negative charge has led to the synthesis of a wide variety of borate anions of high chemical and electrochemical stability—in particular, weakly coordinating anions. This Review summarizes recent advances in the study of boron compounds for energy‐related processes and applications.
A one-pot synthesis of a CAAC-stabilized, unsymmetrical, cyclic diborene was achieved via consecutive two-electron reduction steps from an adduct of CAAC and B\(_2\)Br\(_4\)(SMe\(_2\))\(_2\). Theoretical studies revealed that this diborene has a considerably smaller HOMO–LUMO gap than those of reported NHC- and phosphine-supported diborenes. Complexation of the diborene with [AuCl(PCy\(_3\))] afforded two diborene–Au\(^I\) π complexes, while reaction with DurBH\(_2\), P\(_4\) and a terminal acetylene led to the cleavage of B−H, P−P, and C−C π bonds, respectively. Thermal rearrangement of the diborene gave an electron-rich cyclic alkylideneborane, which readily coordinated to Ag\(^I\) via its B=C double bond.
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.
Twisted boron-based biradicals featuring unsaturated C\(_2\)R\(_2\) (R=Et, Me) bridges and stabilization by cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes (CAACs) were recently prepared. These species show remarkable geometrical and electronic differences with respect to their unbridged counterparts. Herein, a thorough computational investigation on the origin of their distinct electrostructural properties is performed. It is shown that steric effects are mostly responsible for the preference for twisted over planar structures. The ground-state multiplicity of the twisted structure is modulated by the σ framework of the bridge, and different R groups lead to distinct multiplicities. In line with the experimental data, a planar structure driven by delocalization effects is observed as global minimum for R=H. The synthetic elusiveness of C\(_2\)R\(_2\)-bridged systems featuring N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) was also investigated. These results could contribute to the engineering of novel main group biradicals.
The concepts of aromaticity and antiaromaticity have a long history, and countless demonstrations of these phenomena have been made with molecules based on elements from the p, d, and f blocks of the periodic table. In contrast, the limited oxidation‐state flexibility of the s‐block metals has long stood in the way of their participation in sophisticated π‐bonding arrangements, and truly antiaromatic systems containing s‐block metals are altogether absent or remain poorly defined. Using spectroscopic, structural, and computational techniques, we present herein the synthesis and authentication of a heterocyclic compound containing the alkaline earth metal beryllium that exhibits significant antiaromaticity, and detail its chemical reduction and Lewis‐base‐coordination chemistry.
The reactivity of a diruthenium tetrahydride complex towards three selected dihydroboranes was investigated. The use of [DurBH\(_{2}\)] (Dur=2,3,5,6‐Me\(_{4}\)C\(_{6}\)H) and [(Me\(_{3}\)Si)\(_{2}\)NBH\(_{2}\)] led to the formation of bridging borylene complexes of the form [(Cp\(^{*}\)RuH)\(_{2}\)BR] (Cp\(^{*}\)=C\(_{5}\)Me\(_{5}\); 1 a: R=Dur; 1 b: R=N(SiMe\(_{3}\))\(_{2}\)) through oxidative addition of the B−H bonds with concomitant hydrogen liberation. Employing the more electron‐deficient dihydroborane [3,5‐(CF\(_{3}\))\(_{2}\)‐C\(_{6}\)H\(_{3}\)BH\(_{2}\)] led to the formation of an anionic complex bearing a tetraarylated chain of four boron atoms, namely Li(THF)\(_{4}\)[(Cp\(^{*}\)Ru)\(_{2}\)B\(_{4}\)H\(_{5}\)(3,5‐(CF\(_{3}\))\(_{2}\)C\(_{6}\)H\(_{3}\))\(_{4}\)] (4), through an unusual, incomplete threefold dehydrocoupling process. A comparative theoretical investigation of the bonding in a simplified model of 4 and the analogous complex nido‐[1,2(Cp\(^{*}\)Ru)\(_{2}\)(μ‐H)B\(_{4}\)H\(_{9}\)] (I) indicates that there appear to be no classical σ‐bonds between the boron atoms in complex I, whereas in the case of 4 the B\(_{4}\) chain better resembles a network of three B−B σ bonds, the central bond being significantly weaker than the other two.
The steric and electronic properties of aryl substituents in monoaryl borohydrides (Li[ArBH\(_3\)]) and dihydroboranes were systematically varied and their reactions with [Ru(PCy\(_3\))\(_2\)HCl(H\(_2\))] (Cy: cyclohexyl) were studied, resulting in bis(σ)‐borane or terminal borylene complexes of ruthenium. These variations allowed for the investigation of the factors involved in the activation of dihydroboranes in the synthesis of terminal borylene complexes. The complexes were studied by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, X‐ray diffraction analysis, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The experimental and computational results suggest that the ortho‐substitution of the aryl groups is necessary for the formation of terminal borylene complexes.
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.
The NHC-stabilised diboryne (B\(_2\)(SIDep)\(_2\); SIDep=1,3-bis(2,6-diethylphenyl)imidazolin-2-ylidene) undergoes a high-yielding P−P bond activation with tetraethyldiphosphine at room temperature to form a B\(_2\)P\(_2\) heterocycle via a diphosphoryldiborene by 1,2-diphosphination. The heterocycle can be oxidised to a radical cation and a dication, respectively, depending on the oxidant used and its counterion. Starting from the planar, neutral 1,3-bis(alkylidene)-1,3-diborata-2,4-diphosphoniocyclobutane, each oxidation step leads to decreased B−B distances and loss of planarity by cationisation. X-ray analyses in conjunction with DFT and CASSCF/NEVPT2 calculations reveal closed-shell singlet, butterfly-shaped structures for the NHC-stabilised dicationic B\(_2\)P\(_2\) rings, with their diradicaloid, planar-ring isomers lying close in energy.
Die ersten Beispiele für Lewis-Basen-Addukte des Stammboraphosphaketens H\(_{2}\)B-PCO und ihre cyclischen Dimere wurden hergestellt. Eines dieser Addukte zeigt unter milden Bedingungen eine Decarbonylierung und anschließende Insertion des Phosphinidens in die B-C-Bindung eines Borols, was in der Bildung sehr seltener Beispiele für 1,2-Phosphaborinine, B,P-Isostere von Benzol, resultiert. Die starken Donoreigenschaften dieser 1,2-Phosphaborinine wurden durch die Synthese ihrer π-Komplexe mit Metallen der Gruppe 6 bestätigt.