Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Reactivity Studies of 5-CF3SO3-B10H13

Protonation of Dppbz- and Binap-Ligated Rhodathiaboranes Yielding Hydron, Hydride, and Hydrogen Exchange

The reaction of the 11-vertex rhodathiaborane [8,8,8-(H)(PPh3)2-3-(NC5H5)-nido-7,8-RhSB9H10] (1) with 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphine)benzene (dppbz) and (S)-(-)-2,2'-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1'-binaphthyl (binap) affords [1,1-(η2-dppbz)-3-(NC5H5)-closo-1,2-RhSB9H8] (2) and [1,1-(η2-binap)-3-(NC5H5)-closo-1,2-RhSB9H8] (3). These 11-vertex closo-rhodathiaborane chelates result from PPh3 ligand substitution at the rhodium center and a nido-to-closo structural cluster transformation driven by H2 loss. Treating compounds 2 and 3 with triflic acid (TfOH) leads to the formation of cationic clusters 4 and 5. The hydrons bind to the polyhedral clusters, acquiring hydride character and providing chemical nonrigidity that manifests through metal vertex-to-thiaborane pseudo-rotations and concomitant hydron tautomerisms. The resulting cations react with hydrogen to form mixtures of hydrons, hydrogen, and hydridorhodathiaboranes in equilibrium. The reaction products are the result of heterolytic cleavage of the H-H bond, with full participation of the clusters and the addition of hydrogen atoms to the cages. In these reactions, there is a conversion of electrons and hydrons into hydrogen, and hydrogen into hydride ligands, demonstrating that these boron-based metal compounds act as electron reservoirs, capable of promoting multielectron processes.

Decaborane: From Alfred Stock and Rocket Fuel Projects to Nowadays

The review covers more than a century of decaborane chemistry from the first synthesis by Alfred Stock to the present day. The main attention is paid to the reactions of the substitution of hydrogen atoms by various atoms and groups with the formation of exo-polyhedral boron-halogen, boron-oxygen, boron-sulfur, boron-nitrogen, boron-phosphorus, and boron-carbon bonds. Particular attention is paid to the chemistry of conjucto-borane anti-[B18H22], whose structure is formed by two decaborane moieties with a common edge, the chemistry of which has been intensively developed in the last decade.

Direct Phenylation of nido-B10H14

As a preliminary step toward its condensation into the porous polymer Activated Borane, the thermolysis of nido-B₁₀H₁₄ (1) in benzene at 200 °C results in the generation of a number of phenylated borane molecular species. The principal product is the new monophenylated compound 5-Ph-nido-B₁₀H₁₃ (2), isolated in 48% yield (based on consumption of 1) and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, NMR, and mass spectrometry along with other minor products, such as 6-Ph-nido-B₁₀H₁₃ (3), for which we observe UV-light-driven conversion into 2 via a "vertex-flip" mechanism, and novel diphenylated 5,8-Ph₂-nido-B₁₀H₁₂ (4). Together, the phenylated derivatives provide a valuable insight into the assembly of Activated Borane and ultimately inform on its structure. The new compounds also display strong blue fluorescence in both solid-state and in solution and are the first examples of the direct phenylation of nido-B₁₀H₁₄, thus opening the door to the straight-forward synthesis of highly luminescent organic-borane hybrid systems.

Nucleophilic Substitution at a Coordinatively Saturated Five-Membered NHC∙Haloborane Centre

In this paper, we have used a saturated five-membered N-Heterocyclic carbene (5SIDipp = 1,3-bis-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolin-2-ylidine) for the synthesis of SNHC-haloboranes adducts and their further nucleophilic substitutions to put unusual functional groups at the central boron atom. The reaction of 5-SIDipp with RBCl2 yields Lewis-base adducts, 5-SIDipp·RBCl2 [R = H (1), Ph (2)]. The hydrolysis of 1 gives the NHC stabilized boric acid, 5-SIDipp·B(OH)3 (3), selectively. Replacement of chlorine atoms from 1 and 2 with one equivalent of AgOTf led to the formation of 5-SIDipp·HBCl(OTf) (4) and 5-SIDipp·PhBCl(OTf) (5a), where all the substituents on the boron atoms are different. The addition of two equivalents of AgNO3 to 2 leads to the formation of rare di-nitro substituted 5-SIDipp·BPh(NO3)2 (6). Further, the reaction of 5-SIDipp with B(C6F5)3 in tetrahydrofuran and diethyl ether shows a frustrated Lewis pair type small molecule activated products, 7 and 8.

Triflyloxy-substituted carboranes as useful weakly coordinating anions

New carborane anions carrying one or three triflyloxy substituents are described.