Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 2, 2026

Preparation of Stable Bicyclic Aziridinium Ions and Their Ring-Opening for the Synthesis of Azaheterocycles
Published on: August 22, 2018
The niobaziridine-hydride functional group: synthesis and divergent reactivity
Joshua S Figueroa1, Christopher C Cummins
1Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 2-227, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Abstract:
A multistep synthetic strategy enables the isolation of the niobaziridine-hydride complex Nb(H)(eta2-tBu(H)C=NAr)(N[Np]Ar)2 (1, Np = neopentyl, Ar = 3,5-C6H3Me2), which functions as a reactive synthon for its tautomer, the three-coordinate, trisamide species Nb(N[Np]Ar)3 (2). Treatment of 1 with various small molecules has demonstrated its capacity to effect two-electron reduction chemistry. Most noteworthy is the reaction between 1 and elemental phosphorus (P4), providing in high yield the bridging diphosphide complex (mu2:eta2,eta2-P2)[Nb(N[Np]Ar)3]2. However, unsaturated organic functionality including nitriles and aldehydes can insert into the Nb-H bond of 1, leaving the niobaziridine ring intact, thus demonstrating that dual pathways of reactivity are available to the niobaziridine-hydride functional group.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Regioselectivity and Stereochemistry of Hydroboration
Hydroboration proceeds in a concerted fashion with the attack of borane on the π bond, giving a cyclic four-centered transition state. The –BH2 group is bonded to the less substituted carbon and –H to the more substituted carbon. The concerted nature requires the simultaneous addition of –H and –BH2 across the same face of the alkene giving syn stereochemistry.
Aldehydes and Ketones with HCN: Cyanohydrin Formation Overview
Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution: Elimination–Addition
Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution of Aryldiazonium Salts: Aromatic SN1
In the Sandmeyer reaction, for example, the diazonio group is replaced by a chloro, bromo, or cyano...
Diazonium Group Substitution with Halogens and Cyanide: Sandmeyer and Schiemann Reactions
Diazonium Group Substitution: –OH and –H

