N-Heterocyclic Carbene Boranes Accelerate Type I Radical Photopolymerizations and Overcome Oxygen Inhibition

Boron chemistry in a new light

Photocatalysis has recently opened up new avenues for the generation of radical species under visible light irradiation conditions. A particularly fascinating class of photocatalyzed transformations relies on the activation of stable boron species with visible-light since it allows the creation of boryl and/or carbon radicals through single electron transfer or energy transfer without the need for specific and costly equipment. This new paradigm has found numerous applications in synthetic organic chemistry, catalysis, and macromolecular chemistry. In this minireview, the concepts underlying photoactivation of boron-species as well as applications to the creation of C-H, C-C, C-O, B-C and B-S bond are discussed.

Influence of Electronic Effects on the Reactivity of Triazolylidene-Boryl Radicals: Consequences for the use of N-Heterocyclic Carbene Boranes in Organic and Polymer Synthesis

A small library of triazolylidene-boranes that differ only in the nature of the aryl group on the external nitrogen atom was prepared. Their reactivity as hydrogen-atom donors, as well as that of the corresponding N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-boryl radicals toward methyl acrylate and oxygen, was investigated by laser flash photolysis, molecular orbital calculations, and ESR spin-trapping experiments, and benchmarked relative to the already known dimethyltriazolylidene-borane. The new NHC-boranes were also used as co-initiators for the Type I photopolymerization of acrylates. This allowed a structure-reactivity relationship with regard to the substitution pattern of the NHC to be established and the role of electronic effects in the reactivity of NHC-boryl radicals to be probed. Although their rate of addition to methyl acrylate depends on their electronegativity, the radicals are all nucleophilic and good initiators for photopolymerization reactions.

Mechanism of NHC-Catalyzed Conjugate Additions of Diboron and Borosilane Reagents to α,β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds

Broadly applicable enantioselective C-B and C-Si bond-forming processes catalyzed by an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) were recently introduced; these boryl and silyl conjugate addition reactions (BCA and SCA, respectively), which proceed without the need for a transition-metal complex, represent reaction pathways that are distinct from those facilitated by transition-metal-containing species (e.g., Cu, Ni, Pt, Pd, or Rh based). The Lewis-base-catalyzed (NHC) transformations are valuable to chemical synthesis, as they can generate high enantioselectivities and possess unique chemoselectivity profiles. Here, the results of investigations that elucidate the principal features of the NHC-catalyzed BCA and SCA processes are detailed. Spectroscopic evidence is provided illustrating why the presence of excess base and MeOH or H2O is required for efficient and enantioselective boryl and silyl addition reactions. It is demonstrated that the proton sources influence the efficiency and/or enantioselectivity of NHC-catalyzed enantioselective transformations in several ways. The positive, and at times adverse, impact of water (biphasic conditions) on catalytic enantioselective silyl addition reactions is analyzed. It is shown that a proton source can facilitate nonenantioselective background reactions and NHC decomposition, requiring the catalyst to surpass such complications. Stereochemical models are presented that account for the identity of the observed major enantiomers, providing a rationale for the differences in selectivity profiles of BCA and SCA processes.

Photoredox catalysis using a new iridium complex as an efficient toolbox for radical, cationic and controlled polymerizations under soft blue to green lights

A new iridium complex (nIr) was designed and investigated as a photoinitiator catalyst for radical and cationic polymerizations upon very soft irradiation.

Carbene-Stabilized Main Group Radicals and Radical Ions

Shortly after their discovery at the end of the 80s, stable singlet carbenes have been recognized as excellent ligands for transition metal based catalysts, and as organo-catalysts in their own right. At the end of the 2000s, it has been shown that they can coordinate main group elements in their zero oxidation state, and even activate small molecules. This review covers examples in the literature dealing with the most recent application of stable singlet carbenes, namely their use to stabilize radicals and radical ions that are otherwise unstable.

Mechanistic and preparative studies of radical chain homolytic substitution reactions of N-heterocyclic carbene boranes and disulfides

Reactions of 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene-borane (diMe-Imd-BH3) and related NHC-boranes with diaryl and diheteroaryl disulfides provide diverse NHC-boryl monosulfides (diMe-Imd-BH2SAr) and NHC-boryl disulfides (diMe-Imd-BH(SAr)2). Heating in the dark with 1 equiv of disulfide favors monosulfide formation, while irradiation with 2 equiv disulfide favors disulfide formation. With heteroaryl disulfides, the NHC-borane in the primary NHC-boryl sulfide product migrates from sulfur to nitrogen to give new products with a thioamide substructure. Most substitution reactions are thought to proceed through radical chains in which homolytic substitution of a disulfide by an NHC-boryl radical is a key step. However, with electrophilic disulfides under dark conditions, a competing ionic path may also be possible.