Isolation and enantiostability of the B-chiral bis(salicylato)borate anions [BR(Sal)2] and [BS(Sal)2]

Total Syntheses of Borolithochromes A, D and G

Total syntheses of borolithochromes A, D and G, red pigments isolated from fossils of Jurassic putative red alga Solenopora jurassica, have been achieved. The benzo[gh]tetraphene skeletons of the borate ligands in these substances were constructed using Diels-Alder reactions of aryl dienes with naphthoquinone, followed by intramolecular Corey-Chaykovsky reactions. Complexation of these ligands with trimethyl borate generated homocomplexes, which upon sequential O-demethylation produced borolithochromes A and G. In the route to borolithochrome D, a heterocomplex was prepared by stepwise complexation of the ligands with 2-(dimethylamino)ethyl dimethyl borate. The strategy devised to accomplish the first total synthesis of borolithochromes A, D and G should be applicable to the preparation of other borolithochromes as well as spiroborates possessing two fused polycyclic aromatic ligands.

Synthesis and stereochemistry of chiral aza-boraspirobifluorenes with tetrahedral boron-stereogenic centers

We have synthesized chiral aza-boraspirobifluorenes and evaluated their structural and photophysical properties.

Chiral anionic layers in tartramide spiroborate salts and variable solvation for [NR4][B(TarNH2)2] (R = Et, Pr or Bu)

The spiroborate anion, namely, 2,3,7,8-tetracarboxamido-1,4,6,9-tetraoxa-5λ⁴-boraspiro[4.4]nonane, [B(TarNH₂)₂]^-, derived from the diol L-tartramide TarNH₂, [CH(O)(CONH₂)]₂, shows a novel self-assembly into two-dimensional (2D) layer structures in its salts with alkylammonium cations, [NR₄]⁺ (R = Et, Pr and Bu), and sparteinium, [HSpa]⁺, in which the cations and anions are segregated. The structures of four such salts are reported, namely, the tetrapropylazanium salt, C₁₂H₂₈N⁺·C₈H₁₂BN₄O₈^-, the tetraethylazanium salt hydrate, C₈H₂₀N⁺·C₈H₁₂BN₄O₈^-·6.375H₂O, the tetrabutylazanium salt as the ethanol monosolvate hemihydrate, C₁₆H₃₆N⁺·C₈H₁₂BN₄O₈^-·C₂H₅OH·0.5H₂O, and the sparteinium (7-aza-15-azoniatetracyclo[7.7.1.0^2,7.0^10,15]heptadecane) salt as the ethanol monosolvate, C₁₅H₂₇N₂⁺·C₈H₁₂BN₄O₈^-·C₂H₅OH. The 2D anion layers have preserved intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the amide groups and a typical metric repeat of around 10 × 15 Å. The constraint of matching the interfacial area organizes the cations into quite different solvated arrangements, i.e. the [NEt₄] salt is highly hydrated with around 6.5H₂O per cation, the [NPr₄] salt apparently has a good metric match to the anion layer and is unsolvated, whilst the [NBu₄] salt is intermediate and has EtOH and H₂O in its cation layer, which is similar to the arrangement for the chiral [HSpa]⁺ cation. This family of salts shows highly organized chiral space and offers potential for the resolution of both chiral cations and neutral chiral solvent molecules.

How Molecular Chiralities of Bis(mandelato)borate Anions Affect Their Binding Structures With Alkali Metal Ions and Microstructural Properties in Tetraalkylphosphonium Ionic Liquids

Spiroborate anion-based inorganic electrolytes and ionic liquids (ILs) have fascinating electrochemical and tribological properties and have received widespread attention in industrial applications. The molecular chiralities of spiroborate anions have a significant effect on the microstructures and macroscopic functionalities of these ionic materials in application and thus deserve fundamental consideration. In the current work, we performed quantum chemistry calculations to address the binding strength and coordination structures of chiral bis(mandelato)borate ([BMB]) anions with representative alkali metal ions, as well as the electronic properties of alkali metal ion-[BMB] ion pair complexes. The optimized [BMB] conformers are categorized into V-shaped, bent, and twisted structures with varied electrostatic potential contours and conformational energies and distinct alkali metal ion-[BMB] binding structures. Alkali metal ions have additional associations with phenyl groups in V-shaped [BMB] conformers owing to preferential cation-π interactions. Furthermore, the effects of the molecular chiralities of [BMB] anions on the thermodynamics and microstructural properties of tetraalkylphosphonium [BMB] ILs were studied by performing extensive atomistic interactions. Oxygen atoms in [BMB] anions have competitive hydrogen bonding interactions with hydrogen atoms in cations depending on the molecular chiralities and steric hindrance effects of [BMB] anions. However, the molecular chiralities of [BMB] anions have a negligible effect on the liquid densities of tetraalkylphosphonium [BMB] ILs and the spatial distributions of boron atoms in anions around phosphorous atoms in cations. Enlarging tetraalkylphosphonium cation sizes leads to enhanced cation-anion intermolecular hydrogen bonding and Coulombic interactions due to enhanced segregation of polar groups in apolar networks in heterogeneous IL matrices, as verified by scattering structural functions.

A chiral spiroborate anion from diphenyl-l-tartramide [B{l-Tar(NHPh)2}2]−applied to some challenging resolutions

A chiral spiroborate anion [B{l-Tar(NHPh)₂}₂]⁻is effective in challenging high yield, 1-pot resolutions, as for the S-2-phenylpropylammonium salt shown.