Exploring the reactivity of carbon(0)/borane-based frustrated Lewis pairs

Many covalent molecules have central atoms that do not have eight electrons in their Lewis structures. These molecules fall into three categories:

Compared to ionic bonds, which results from the transfer of electrons between metallic and nonmetallic atoms, covalent bonds result from the mutual attraction of atoms for a “shared” pair of electrons.

Effect of Lone Pairs of Electrons on Molecule Geometry

In addition to the oxymercuration–demercuration method, which converts the alkenes to alcohols with Markovnikov orientation, a complementary hydroboration-oxidation method yields the anti-Markovnikov product. The hydroboration reaction, discovered in 1959 by H.C. Brown, involves the addition of a B–H bond of borane to an alkene giving an organoborane intermediate. The oxidation of this intermediate with basic hydrogen peroxide forms an alcohol.

The mathematical expression known as the wave function, ψ, contains information about each orbital and the wavelike properties of electrons in an isolated atom. When atoms are bound together in a molecule, the wave functions combine to produce new mathematical descriptions that have different shapes. This process of combining the wave functions for atomic orbitals is called hybridization and is mathematically accomplished by the linear combination of atomic orbitals. The new orbitals that...

VSEPR Theory for Determination of Electron Pair Geometries