Piers' Borane-Induced Tetramerization of Arylacetylenes

Uncatalyzed Carbometallation Involving Group 13 Elements: Carboboration and Carboalumination of Alkenes and Alkynes

Carbometallation of alkenes and alkynes are powerful carbon-carbon bond-forming reactions. The use of compounds containing bonds between carbon and group 13 elements, particularly boron and aluminum, are particularly attractive because of the versatility of subsequent transformations. Uncatalyzed carboboration and carboalumination represent less common classes of reactions. This Short Review discusses uncatalyzed carboboration and carboalumination reactions of alkenes and alkynes, including the reaction design and mechanism.

1,2-Carboboration of Arylallenes by In Situ Generated Alkenylboranes for the Synthesis of 1,4-Dienes

We herein report a novel method for the coupling of unactivated alkynes and arylallenes, which relies on an unprecedented and regioselective 1,2‐carboboration of the allene by an alkenylborane. The alkenylborane is conveniently prepared in situ by hydroboration of an alkyne with Piers’ borane, i. e., HB(C₆F₅)₂. The boryl‐substituted 1,4‐dienes that are formed by this carboboration are well‐suited for a subsequent Suzuki‐Miyaura coupling with aryl iodides. This allowed us to develop a three‐step, one‐pot protocol for the synthesis of aryl‐substituted 1,4‐dienes. The generality of the reaction was demonstrated by the synthesis of twenty dienes with modular variations of all three reaction partners. The mechanism of the new 1,2‐carboboration was investigated using dispersion corrected double‐hybrid DFT computations that allowed us to rationalize the chemo‐ and regioselectivity of this key step.