0000000000202943
AUTHOR
Adrian Houghton
Mechanistic Studies on the Metal-Free Activation of Dihydrogen by Antiaromatic Pentarylboroles
The perfluoro- and perprotiopentaphenylboroles 1 and 2 react with dihydrogen to effect H–H bond cleavage and formation of boracyclopentene products. The mechanism of this reaction has been studied experimentally through evaluation of the kinetic properties of the slower reaction between 2 and H2. The reaction is first-order in both [borole] and [H2] with activation parameters of ΔH⧧ = 34(8) kJ/mol and ΔS⧧ = −146(25) J mol–1 K–1. A minimal kinetic isotope effect of 1.10(5) was observed, suggesting an asynchronous geometry for H–H cleavage in the rate-limiting transition state. To explain the stereochemistry of the observed products, a ring-opening/ring-closing mechanism is proposed and suppo…
Direct observation of a borane–silane complex involved in frustrated Lewis-pair-mediated hydrosilylations
Perfluorarylborane Lewis acids catalyse the addition of silicon–hydrogen bonds across C=C, C=N and C=O double bonds. This ‘metal-free’ hydrosilylation has been proposed to occur via borane activation of the silane Si–H bond, rather than through classical Lewis acid/base adducts with the substrate. However, the key borane/silane adduct had not been observed experimentally. Here it is shown that the strongly Lewis acidic, antiaromatic 1,2,3-tris(pentafluorophenyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrafluoro-1-boraindene forms an observable, isolable adduct with triethylsilane. The equilibrium for adduct formation was studied quantitatively through variable-temperature NMR spectroscopic investigations. The interacti…